America: Clara Li

Hello! My name is Clara Li and I am from Bethesda, Maryland which is a couple miles outside of Washington, D.C. I am a freshman at the University of Michigan and am part of a student dance group called Outrage. I have been dancing since I was four years old and I used to focus on ballet but in high school I started jazz, contemporary and modern. Next semester I hope to take classes in the School of Music, Theater, and Dance because I want to continue to be active and because it is something that I am very passionate about. I am planning on majoring in International Studies, but I am also considering the major Politics, Philosophy and the Economy or applying to the Ford School of Public Policy for my junior and senior years. This past summer I traveled to Switzerland, France, Denmark and Sweden and I realized how much of the world that I have not seen or learned about. Therefore by majoring in International Studies I hope to travel and learn about the range of traditions and practices that are not present in Western culture. I want to combine my love for exploring and traveling with my passion for medicine by joining the Peace Corps after college and later doing Doctors Without Borders. I hope to foster positive changes in all the places that I visit through medical assistance, providing aid, and advancing health care systems in developing countries. 

This is my prom date and I in front of the Washington Monument. 

In class, when we first discussed the story behind Zwarte Piet and the cultural influence of this tradition, I thought that it was discriminatory towards colored people. American society places a strong taboo regarding the issue of slavery, therefore the practice of black face seems backwards and racist. We also learned about how the influx of immigrants to the Netherlands brought increased debate regarding the continuation of this practice. Foreigners are shocked by how these black faced servants are serving this white master and having these influences around children every year. However, though it may seem derogatory through one perspective, the common Dutch belief is that this is a harmless tradition with no aims of being racist. I understand how the people are used to seeing these actors every year and view it through a mainly entertainment point of view. I think that part of the reason for such strong and opposing views about this practice can be attributed to our individual cultural practices. There is more social and cultural disparity regarding race in the US compared to the Netherlands where, though there are inclusion and exclusion practices, they revolve less around race and more around ethnicity. 

The link that I have attached below is a speech from the UN human rights organization that discusses the implications of the Zwarte Piet tradition in the Netherlands. The article states that the "portrayal of Zwarte Piet perpetuates a negative stereotype and derogatory image of Africans and African descent." Do you agree with this statement? Do you believe that measures should be take to replace or discard this tradition?

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14013&LangID=E