America: Jenna VanZoeren

Hallo! Mijn naam is Jenna VanZoeren en ik ben een eerstejaars aan de Universiteit van Michigan,  maar ik kom uit Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Op UofM speel ik voor de club volleybal team, ik ben in een vrouwenclub, Gamma Phi Beta, en ik wil studeren biomedische technologie.  In mijn vrije tijd ga ik naar sportevenementen en ik tijd doorbrengen met mijn vrienden.  Op een dag wil ik studeren in Nederland. 

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Dit is een foto van mijn twee vrienden en ik.  (Ik ben in het midden). 






Nu op Zwarte Piet:
I believe that Zwarte Piet is a very racist tradition.  If anyone in America ever paints their face to look like an African American, they can expect to be confronted with lots of criticism. Racism played a large role in the history of the United States, and because of this we are very aware of these types of things and why they can be so offensive.  Although people try to say that the Petes are black from being covered in chimney soot, to me this is clearly just an attempt to hide the truth and make the tradition seem less racist.  Along with having their skin painted black, the Petes are given big red lips and afros, making it pretty obvious that they are meant to portray African Americans.  Personally, I think the use of blackface in this traditon should be completely stopped, but I know that is almost impossible because it is a tradition so embedded in the culture of the Netherlands.

Here are two short articles about a celebrity who did blackface.  Hopefully this will give you a better idea of how we view this sort of thing in America:
http://www.eonline.com/news/475028/julianne-hough-s-blackface-plus-5-other-celebs-who-should-have-rethought-their-offensive-costumesArticle 1
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/isla-fisher-told-julianne-hough-to-wipe-off-her-blackface-on-halloween-20131311

My question is does anyone know what my last name, VanZoeren, means?  My professor explained to me that Dutch names with "Van" often mean "of the ____" but she was unable to tell me what mine was.  Any ideas?