My reflections on the NL Black Pete discussion in the form of a PowerPoint essay. The essay was written within the framework of the European project Talking about taboos. The project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The document reflects the view only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

1. RESTORING THE DIALOGUE?
REFLECTIONS ON THE
NL BLACK PETE DISCUSSION
A POWERPOINT ESSAY

2. HOW TO ESTABLISH RACISM
“... if you are really wanting to figure out if
racism is operating the first thing you don’t
want to do ... is ask white people. ... Just like if
you want to know if sexism is operating you
wouldn’t start by asking men.”
Tim Wise, White Like Me (9:55ff)

3. THE REASON
“... when you’re dominant why would you be
expected to know what other people who are
not, experience? It’s sort of irrational ..”
Tim Wise, White Like Me (10:47ff)

4. IS THIS TRUE? WHERE DO WE START?
According to Zygmunt Bauman (Identity, 2004)
the indigenous population of a country has a
different kind of “belonging” than immigrants.
Indigenous citizens automatically belong to a
given community in which they were born.
In the words of Sigfried Kracauer: they “live
together in an indissoluble attachment”.

5. AN EXAMPLE
This is what we see currently in the Netherlands
during the World Championship Football
2014: ever more Dutch are wearing orange as
a sign of “belonging” to their indigenous
nation even if they are no lovers of football.

6. IMMIGRANTS
Immigrants, on the other hand, according to Zygmunt Bauman
are “wholly or in part ‘out of place’ everywhere”. They do not
belong to a given community: “There is always something to
explain, to apologize for, to hide or on the contrary to boldly
display, to negotiate, to bid for and to bargain for”.
Their identities are not fully theirs, since they are partially
defined by those around them.

7. EXAMPLE
As a Chinese friend of mine once said: “If I cheer
in a crowd of foodball fans, there is always
this moment when people turn towards me
and think: “What is this Chinese guy cheering
for?”

8. IMMIGRANT BELONGING
The kind of belonging immigrants can
nevertheless hope for is being in a community
that is (in the words of Kracauer and Bauman)
“welded together solely by ideas or various
principles”.

9. INDIGENOUS CITIZENS
Besides their “indissoluble attachment”
indigenous citizens can experience the second
variety of belonging too as “being welded
together by ideas or various principles”.
Whereas immigrants have access “solely” to this
variety, indigenous citizens can have both.

10. EFFECT OF THE BELONGINGS
While indigenous people are not pressured to self-define themselves,
immigrants are: (Bauman) “I have been and still am expected by everyone
around to self-define and I am supposed to have a considered, carefully
balanced, keenly argued view of my identity.”
This means that while indigenous people can live their lives without any
pressure to reflect on their identity, their community or their culture,
immigrants need to be in a permanent state of reflection to explain their
relationship with the indigenous group.

11. TIM WISE REVISITED
So this lies beneath the opening quotes by Tim
Wise – why a dominant group does not
experience the social exclusion minorities
experience.

12. BUT
This clear dichotomy between indigenous people and immigrants is not as
clear as presented, though. The times we live in – “liquid times” in the
words of Bauman – are putting pressure on the experience of automatic
belonging of the indigenous.
“In a liquid modern setting of life, identities are perhaps the most common,
most acute, most deeply felt”. Where once identities might have been
simply given, in our current times “the old-style stiff and non-negotiable
identities simply won’t do”.

13. LIQUID TIMES
Bauman (Liquid Life, 2005): “ ‘Liquid modern’ is a society
in which the conditions under which its members act
change faster than it takes the ways of acting to
consolidate into habits and routines. Liquidity of life
and that of society feed and reinvigorate each other.
Liquid life, just like liquid society, cannot keep its shape
or stay on course for long.”
The changes occurring in liquid times are radical,
“modifying many ‘traditional’ concepts that have
structured our way of giving the world we live in, and
our own lives, meaning”. (EGE Opinion 26)

14. TWO FRAMES
In summary, so far I’ve introduced two frames:
• Different kinds of “belonging” – indigenous
citizens versus immigrants
• “Liquid times” that are dissolving all concepts
given

15. THE BLACK PETE DISCUSSION
I would like to use the two frames to reflect on
the Dutch discussion on Zwarte Piet (“Black
Pete”). Zwarte Piet, or rather many Zwarte
Pieten, is/ are accompanying the Dutch
Santaclaus (“Sinterklaas”) during the Dutch
celebration of Santaclaus. This is arguably the
most important festivity and tradition in the
Netherlands.

16. BLACK PETE CONTROVERSY
The blackness of Zwarte Piet is at the heart of the current
discussion – in which death threats have been uttered by
proponents and opponents.
While for the most vocal group of opponents Zwarte Piet’s
blackness (displayed by indigenous people coloring
themselves black) and attributes and behavior of the persona
of Zwarte Piet is “racist”, the most vocal group of proponents
argue Zwarte Piet and all his features are an integral and
essential part of indigenous culture and are non-
negotionable.

17. BLACK PETE FRAMING
The most vocal group of proponents frames
opponents as “foreigners” who should either
accept Dutch culture or “return to their
countries of origin”.
The most vocal group of opponents frame
proponents as “racists” who defend a “racist
society”.

18. LIQUID TIMES AND BLACK PETE
As Bauman noted, in liquid times all concepts
sooner or later are challenged. There are no “stiff
and non-negotiable identities” based on mere
belonging anymore.
Bauman: “Frames, when (if) they are available,
should not be expected to last for long. They will
not be able to withstand and that leaking,
seeping, trickling, spilling – sooner rather than
later they will drench, soften, contort and
decompose.”

19. LIQUID TIMES FOR IMMIGRANTS
Liquid times provide a great opportunity for
minorities to challenge elements of the
culture of the dominant group.
Since everything is in flux and all becomes
negotiable, they have an ever bigger
opportunity to state their values in opposition
to the dominant values.

20. LIQUID TIMES FOR THE INDIGENOUS
For the indigenous liquid times bring shocks.
Truths that were given for always are
crumbling.
Some of the indigenous thereupon go in denial
(Bauman) as “an earnest and desperate, even
if misguided, attempt to find protection from
the globalizing winds that are sometimes
freezing, sometimes scorching .”

21. BELONGING AND BLACK PETE (1)
The most vocal stance of the opponents seems to
neatly fit in the immigrant belonging frame. Basing
themselves on “ideas or various principles” (“anti-
racism”) opponents of Black Pete seem to define
their relationship with the indigenous group
(“defending human dignity against racism”), based
on a state of permanent reflection (caused by
perceived exclusion).

22. BELONGING AND BLACK PETE (2)
The most vocal stance of the proponents seems to
neatly fit in the indigenous belonging frame. Not
used to self-definitions or reflections they seem to go
in denial presenting their dominant culture as a non-
negotiable solid whole – not basing themselves on
ideas or principles but rather on tradition – which is
another word for the right to have a non-negotiable
identity.

23. EXAMPLE
An example of an argument put forward in
defence of Zwarte Piet within the frame of
indigenous belonging is by the Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte: “Black Pete is black. And
I cannot change that. Because the name is
Black Pete.”
Mark Rutte, Press Conference at the NSS-summit (1:31ff)

24. THE OUTCOME (1)
The indigenous most vocal stance is exclusive. It proposes an all-or-nothing
culture – accept all or leave.
This “simply won’t do” in liquid times.
(Stuart Hall quoted by Bauman:) “Since cultural diversity is, increasingly, the
fate of the modern world, and ethnic absolutism a regressive feature of
late-modernity, the greatest danger now arises from forms of national and
cultural identity – new and old –which attempt to secure their identity by
adopting closed versions of culture or community and by refusal to engage
... with the difficult problems that arise from trying to live with difference.”

25. THE OUTCOME (2)
The opponents’ most vocal stance also is exclusive. By taking “anti-racism” as
self-defining principles and “racism” as defining principle for Dutch
indigenous culture thus only a complete ovehaul of indigenous Dutch
culture would be an acceptable outcome of the discussion.
This stance infuriates proponents. Tim Wise: “… naturally, as good people, we
don’t want to think we’re implicated in racism. … We’re thinking of racism
in a very sort of traditional way. … People get very nervous when they
think we’re going to talk about this … And, if they are somehow called a
racist, that we mean … that they’re going to the neo-nazi rally and that
they are actually skinheads in disguise … People make those assumptions
and so as a result they get very defensive. Nobody wants to be thought of
as that.”

26. EXAMPLE
An examply of a defensive reaction to accusations of racism
occurred when United Nations researchers wrote a letter to
the Dutch government: “The character and image of Black
Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and
people of African descent as second-class citizens, fostering
an underlying sense of inferiority within Dutch society and
stirring racial differences as well as racism.”
Within a few days more than two million Dutchmen came to
the defense of Black Pete by joining a group on Facebook in
support of sustaining the character: Pietitie.

27. NO WAY OUT
If the most vocal proponents and opponents
have exclusive stances it is small wonder the
discussion is so explosive – either Dutch
culture is to survive untouched or completely
purged.
To me, therefore, both stances are
unproductive.

28. A POSSIBLE WAY OUT
A way out would be if both proponents and opponents would
employ an inclusive stance. They could draw inspiration
from Immanuel Kant’s allgemeine Vereinigung der
Menschheit: “the truly, completely inclusive identity of the
human race...”
According to Kant this is the logical outcome of human nature.
We do not have to go so far but we can just choose it as a
basis to start negotiating about a new representation of
Zwarte Piet. Basically, it means that we stop labeling each
other “indigenous” or “immigrant” but settle on a common
label: “being human”.

29. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
Both proponents and opponents could use the
frame of belonging based on “ideas or various
principles” – accessible both to minorities and
the majority - and base themselves on the
principle of “being human”.
The next step would be to take our empathy for
the Other as our guidance.

30. IT ALL DEPENDS ON US
Bauman tells us: “Like other postulated
identities, the ideal of ‘humanity’ as an
identity embracing all other identities can
ultimately rely solely on the dedication of its
postulated adherents.”
So, the question is, are there adherents to this
identity and are they dedicated?

31. QUESTIONNAIRE
An online questionnaire on these topics was available
online between April 30 and July 1, 2014. It was
distributed through social media by partners of the Ezzev
Foundation including the Royal Institute of the Tropics
(KIT). Both moderate and more radical social media
communities were targeted
362 individuals filled the questionnaire out. The results can
be found here.

32. RESULTS (1)
Over 68% of the respondents stated that they
wanted the discussion to end. The discussion
was (very) relevant according to almost half of
the respondents but now it is time to put it to
a stop.

33. RESULTS (2)
It appeared that most respondents were very
understanding of the arguments and emotions
of the proponents (85.6% and 82.2%) AND of
the opponents (73% and 72.9%).

34. RESULTS (3)
The labeling of proponents by opponents was not so much as
“racists” but rather as “traditional” or “normal”.
This does not mean that the theme of racism was absent – it was
mentioned a lot in the comments. It rather indicates that
while racism is seen as a cause of the current representation
of Black Pete very few see conscious racism. Rather they see
ignorance – as can also be derived from the comments –
ignorance stemming from tradition.

35. RESULTS (4)
The labeling of opponents by proponents was not so much as
“foreigners” but rather as “oversensitive” or “normal”.
The framing by respondents was thus not so much “racists”
versus “foreigners” but rather: “normal”/ “traditional” people
versus “normal”/ “oversensitive” people.
These are inclusive frames in which differences could be
overcome by “empathy”.

36. MY PROPOSAL (1)
The first step towards a dialogue on Black Pete rather than a
fight over the subject seems to be – having the opening
quotes by Tim Wise in mind - that members from minority
groups start talking about their experiences of social exclusion
– and start being heard with empathy by members of the
majority group.
The second step is that members of the majority group start
talking about their feelings of anxiety and their fear of a
diminishing identity – and start being heard with empathy by
members of minority groups.

37. MY PROPOSAL (2)
Members of both groups should be able to sympathize
with the other side: in liquid times we all experience
similar anxieties – although in different degrees.
This sympathy should be the starting-point to have a
dialogue on Black Pete - and other topics related to
(perceived) social exclusion.

38. THANK YOU
Thank you for reading this PowerPoint essay to
the end. If you have any comments or
suggestions, please mail me at:
onno.hansen@gmail.com
Warm regards,
Onno Hansen