Hey, Dutch counterparts!
My name's Casey and I'm from Howell, Michigan. It's a relatively small town situated in the country. I like it there because my home is surrounded by nature, and I can often see wild animals outside. At night, we hear coyotes and during the day we see a lot of deer. My dog got sprayed by a skunk the other night, which was actually pretty funny, even though it smelled awful. But even though that was kind of gross, I miss living in Howell now that I live in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor is nice too, though! Our professor told us that you didn't have a lot of open spaces in The Netherlands, so I wanted to show a photo of what I like the most about the USA: our great outdoors! This is Howell in the picture.
I like making things with my hands, like sewing costumes and crafting. I also like playing video games like Portal and Bioshock, but my favorite video game lately is Assassin's Creed. I'm really excited for the new games, Unity and Rogue, that came out today! I also love animals and like spending time with my cats and horses. Here's a picture of me and my horse, Casper!
Now onto the real topic! Zwarte Piet. When I first heard about Zwarte Piet I couldn't stop laughing. Not because I think it's funny, but because I was in complete disbelief. In the US, anyone who wears blackface would be uncomfortably avoided or scorned and threatened. Even talking about Santa having black "helpers" would make any American uncomfortable. While I understand that Dutch culture is very different from my own, I find it hard to believe that something I find to be incredibly and blatantly racist could still exist in 2014.
I say racist because racism, as Americans understand it, is the discrimination, hatred, or mockery of others based on their race or ethnicity. Zwarte Piet falls under the category of mockery and discrimination. From what I've seen about the Zwarte Piet is that they're supposed to be silly black people who make people laugh. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to make people smile or be happy, but the the way the tradition of Zwarte Piet goes about it makes me very uneasy.
It's common knowledge that the USA used to be a country where slavery, specifically black slavery, was acceptable. Even until just recently, it was permissible, encouraged even, for white people to think themselves above blacks. Now after the civil right's movement of the 60s and ongoing equality efforts today, the majority of Americans are very aware of how black people were treated for much of American history. There's a term in our country called "politically correct" where we watch our language and our actions so we don't offend anyone. While sometimes many feel as though political correctness has become too overbearing, we understand that someone's race or ethnicity is nothing to joke about. We've been taught that talking flippantly or joking about people's differences based on their appearance or heritage alienates them and makes them feel unwelcome.
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/07/dutch-court-has-ruled-black-pete-offensive-how-did-it-take-so-long
In the article above, I read that most Dutch people don't find Zwarte Piet offensive or racist at all. I can kind of understand why. If I had grown up with a tradition such as this my whole life, I would probably hold a great deal of positive sentiment towards it. Anything drenched in childhood nostalgia is typically an "off limits" zone for change. But I don't see how the white Dutch adult population, who I believed to be some of the best critical thinkers in the world, don't see that they are sending a message to the black Dutch that they are viewed as silly people who are the servants for a white man (Sinterklaas). I know it's viewed as something for children, but children learn appropriate social behavior from this time and shouldn't be taught that discrimination and mockery of another's race is acceptable behavior.
Now a question for you! I would like to know your opinion on the Zwarte Piet tradition and what do you think about the American sexual education system? (If you know anything about it)
Thanks, and have a great day!
-Casey
Now onto the real topic! Zwarte Piet. When I first heard about Zwarte Piet I couldn't stop laughing. Not because I think it's funny, but because I was in complete disbelief. In the US, anyone who wears blackface would be uncomfortably avoided or scorned and threatened. Even talking about Santa having black "helpers" would make any American uncomfortable. While I understand that Dutch culture is very different from my own, I find it hard to believe that something I find to be incredibly and blatantly racist could still exist in 2014.
I say racist because racism, as Americans understand it, is the discrimination, hatred, or mockery of others based on their race or ethnicity. Zwarte Piet falls under the category of mockery and discrimination. From what I've seen about the Zwarte Piet is that they're supposed to be silly black people who make people laugh. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to make people smile or be happy, but the the way the tradition of Zwarte Piet goes about it makes me very uneasy.
It's common knowledge that the USA used to be a country where slavery, specifically black slavery, was acceptable. Even until just recently, it was permissible, encouraged even, for white people to think themselves above blacks. Now after the civil right's movement of the 60s and ongoing equality efforts today, the majority of Americans are very aware of how black people were treated for much of American history. There's a term in our country called "politically correct" where we watch our language and our actions so we don't offend anyone. While sometimes many feel as though political correctness has become too overbearing, we understand that someone's race or ethnicity is nothing to joke about. We've been taught that talking flippantly or joking about people's differences based on their appearance or heritage alienates them and makes them feel unwelcome.
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/07/dutch-court-has-ruled-black-pete-offensive-how-did-it-take-so-long
In the article above, I read that most Dutch people don't find Zwarte Piet offensive or racist at all. I can kind of understand why. If I had grown up with a tradition such as this my whole life, I would probably hold a great deal of positive sentiment towards it. Anything drenched in childhood nostalgia is typically an "off limits" zone for change. But I don't see how the white Dutch adult population, who I believed to be some of the best critical thinkers in the world, don't see that they are sending a message to the black Dutch that they are viewed as silly people who are the servants for a white man (Sinterklaas). I know it's viewed as something for children, but children learn appropriate social behavior from this time and shouldn't be taught that discrimination and mockery of another's race is acceptable behavior.
Now a question for you! I would like to know your opinion on the Zwarte Piet tradition and what do you think about the American sexual education system? (If you know anything about it)
Thanks, and have a great day!
-Casey
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