Dit is mijn vriend, mijn beste vriend en haar vriend op prom. Ik ben in de groene jurk.
Zwarte Piet:
While I understand the difficulty of moving away from
beloved traditions, I believe it is important for the Netherlands to move away
from Zwarte Piet. It is racist and
offensive, especially to black people.
In America dressing up with blackface is likely to get one beat up
because it is found so offensive. Some
people would like to say the Zwarte Piet is only zwarte because he came down a
chimney, but his clothes aren’t dirty, and he also has large red lips and
tribal earrings. I think it is good that
the Netherlands is making attempts to make the tradition less offensive, and I
think toning down the makeup and costume and integrating Piets of all races
would help. Here is an interesting
article I found on the activism towards tradition.
What do you all think of the American traditions surrounding
Christmas?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHallo, ik ben Julie en ik ben 15 jaar. Ik woon in de Wijert-Zuid in Groningen (Nederland). Ik zit in de 4e klas
ReplyDeleteop het Zernike College Monterssori op de Westerse Drift.
I understand that you think Zwarte Piet is racism, but this tradition is meant for little kids. None of the kids have that kind of thought about it. They just see it as Christmas but then with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. Not like Sinterklaas uses them to do things for him. Maybe people feel like it is racism but there has never been a racism thought behind it.
About the question,
Some people are already celebrate Christmas. But I think a lot of the people don't want to stop our tradition. We don't see any racism in it because we grow up with this tradition and they became black because they fell through the chimney. I always celebrate Sintekerst, that is a combination of Christmas and Sinterklaas. I like this because then we can have the presents under the Christmas tree. Groetjes Julie
Hallo,
ReplyDeleteMijn naam is Astrid en ik ben vijftien jaar oud. Ik woon in Haren (Nederland) en zit in de vierde klas van het Zernike College aan de Westerse Drift. Ik vind veel dingen leuk om te doen, zoals lezen en piano spelen.
I understand your feelings about Zwarte Piet and I've read the commentary of a lot of other people who also think Zwarte Piet is racist. It is hard for me to give my own opinion, because I don't know very much about how people from other countries think of Zwarte Piet and what this has to do with the culture of the country. Because I've only been living in The Netherlands whole my live, I'm not very familiar with the way things go in other countries. However, I can tell something about how I think Zwarte Piet is mostly seen in The Netherlands. Of course there are people who think Zwarte Piet is racist. But the celebration is meant for the children. I don't think these children have ever thought about Zwarte Piet in a racistic way. The explanation of the fact that Zwarte Piet is black, is that he's been going through a chimney. Allthough this doesn't explain why the face of Zwarte Piet is totally black, the children believe this story. I also think that Zwarte Piet is black, so that the children don't recognize the people who are playing Zwarte Piet. Before I heard the story from other people, that Zwarte Piet kan be seen as racist, I had never thought about it this way. But now I understand what they mean. I think its really important to pay attention to the people who are thinking Zwarte Piet is racist and to respect their opinion. I also think that the celebration Sinterklaas, has changed through the years and that this means that the thought behind the celebration has changed. For example, in the past some children were afraid of Zwarte Piet, because he was more stringend. Nowadays, Zwarte Piet is seen as someone who helps Sinterklaas with giving presents and who gives sweets to the children. I think a lot of children see Zwarte Piet as a nice person now. So I hope this is kind of an explanation of the fact why this celebration has lived on for so long. It is an important tradition in our country and most of the people don’t link Zwarte Piet to racism.
To answer your question:
I don't really know very much about how Christmas is celebrated in America. But the things i've heard about it sound nice.
Hoi! Ik ben Olga Schipper. Ik ben vijftien jaar oud. Ik woon in Helpman (Groningen). Ik hou van sporten, ik speel zelf korfbal. Ik zit op het Zernike College in Haren.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point about Zwarte Piet. I also think that things about our tradition could be changed.
In Holland we celebrate Christmas with very much food and usually with family and friends.