America- Nicole White

Hallo vrienden! Mijn naam is Nicole White. Ik ben achttien jaar oud en mijn verjaardag is op 23 december. Ik kom uit Rochester Hills, Michigan. Ik woon in Ann Arbor voor school. Ik studeer aan de Universiteit van Michigan. Ik studeer nederlands, scheikunde , psychologie en medische terminologie .Ik hou van de campus is het zo mooi. Mijn favoriete sport is voetbal. Ik speelde voetbal voor vele jaren.

Dit is een foto van mijn ouders en ik na mijn laatste voetbalwedstrijd.

          

Dit is mijn vrienden en ik voor prom!

Speldag! Gaan blauw!

Zwarte Piet: 

          In my opinion, I think that there is a cultural barrier that prevents many cultures from understanding one another. This "cultural barrier", makes it difficult to put ourselves in other's shoes. It is hard for me to imagine how I would view Zwarte Piet had I been raised in the Netherlands. Would I still find it racist, or perhaps would I deem it as normal? In America a tradition such as Zwarte Piet would never be tollerated. However sometimes I think that America trys so hard to eliminate all forms of racism, that we end up actually being racist in the process. Racism is never going to go away, at least not until everyone is entirely the same. It's easy to point fingers and for me to tell you why Zwarte Piet is an act of racism. However, what is not so easy is for me to understand from a Netherlander's perspective why Zwarte Piet is not racist. 

          To me, Zwarte Piet represents singling out the black population. I think that I can best compare Zwarte Piet to the American holiday, Halloween. Halloween, where you can be whoever you wanna be no questions asked. Children dress up in costumes and go door to door getting bags full of candy. Zwarte Piet is similar to this in the sense that the Netherlanders dress up for the day, laugh, joke, celebtrate the holidays, and have a great time. The only difference is Zwarte Piet is at the expense of others. Zwarte Piet is at the direct expense of the entire black population. Us American's find Zwarte Piet unsettling largely due to the fact that we cannot as a country ever forget the terrible times where countless were enslaved. For American's, it's not that we can't forget, it's that we dont want to forget. Remembering allows us to ensure such tragedy never becomes acceptable again. It is my understanding that the Netherlands try to do the exact opposite. The Netherlanders want to forget all aspects of their torubled past, and focus on the here and now. The wonderful aspects that they can now pride themselves on. Perhaps this is why Zwarte Piet is accetable? 

On a lighter note...

Vraag: Wat doe jij en je vrienden doen voor plezier ? Wat zijn sommige dingen die jij en je vrienden doen in het weekend ?