It's difficult to fully understand if the sentiment behind 'midget golf, maybe it somehow lost in translation? Using 'Google Translate', I typed in 'midget' and the Dutch interpretation is....'midget'. So, midget golf is for those who are height challenged? I'm not sure as no one was playing on the pitch when we visited. Aaron below has obstructed the letter 'T', but nonetheless, I think you can clearly see the sign.
The Dutch language still uses the term, 'gehandicapten', where in UK it is not sociably acceptable to describe those physically less able.
And as for Black Pete, or 'Zwarte Piet', that's a whole different story. I've been reading about it as my brain just can't fathom how a whole country can enjoy dressing up as Zwarte Piet in this day and age. Pete is apparently Sintaklaas's helper, who goes down the chimney to deliver presents. That is why he is black as he is covered in soot. Except, he's not covered in soot. Only his face is blacked-up. The guys who dress up as 'black Pete' also make their lips big and red, put an afro wig on and wear gold hoop earings. And their clothes are very clean, with no soot on. But it's all jolly and fun. Apparently. I would feel very uncomfortable if I was Afro Caribbean and was surrounded by these Black Pete's. The tradition only started in 1930's, so it's not really very old and interestingly materialised at the same time as fascism.
Unlike the UK, where it is no longer acceptable to call people 'black', we refer to Afro-Carribeans. Here, people are definitely 'black'. The sales guy in the bike shop described someone's skin as being 'darker than this black pen here, really black' and seemed to be quite excited/gleeful about the concept. A conversation with a Dutch mum took a slightly interesting turn when she described her concern over schools just for blacks. I can't wonder whether the whole black Pete story has led to many Dutch people being, dare I say it, racist.
I am yet to witness any black Pete's as there is a date in early December dedicated to Sintaklaas and his Piet's, My husband's office have kindly invited me and the children along to the Sintaklaas and Zwarte Piet party. I promise I will post the photos. In the meantime, the shops are full of little chocolate Sintaklaas and Pieten. Even Playmobile make a special model to celebrate the event. http://www.fonq.nl/product/playmobil-sinterklaas-en-zwarte-piet-4893/41602/?gclid=CMyLg4u8xLoCFcJb3godr3EA2A
In the run up to Sinter Klaas, I'll keep this blog updated with our experiences as they happen.
10 November
Here's a picture my daughter picked up in the supermarket to colour in.
17 November
So today is the day Sinter Klaas arrives in Amsterdam with his Pete's. We went to see the parade today. It didn't seem sinister, the Pete's were very jolly, giving out sweets, playing music, dancing and walking on stilts. The only part which I felt uncomfortable with was the costume. As my 7 year old daughter observed, 'there are a lot of people from Africa here today'. She already sees people with a different skin colour as not belonging, being from a different country, they couldn't be Dutch people to her because of their skin (which was blackened with face paints).
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We are now in the thick of the SinterKlaas and Black Pete celebrations. The customs vary, but many parents choose to select days on which children can leave their shoes out over night, near the fireplace (or radiator, if there is no fireplace) and Piet leaves presents in the shoes to be found in the morning. It's a lovely tradition and I haven't noticed any malice or negative associations with Black Pete. He is a jolly, generous, joking kinda guy.
I consoled myself with this, maybe it's not so bad after all, as Black Piet is very much loved by the children and they enjoy his e antics too. But the reality is this. When I took my children to school yesterday, there are dozens of these little golliwog type charactors hanging from the ceiling. In the classroom, there are dozens of books with illustrations of these little Black Pete charactors, which all look the same and are caricatures of an Afro Caribbean person, with the big red lips and gold hoop earrings.
I was really shocked to look up at the blackboard and see two, pictures that had been completed by the children (aged 4 - 6 years) of Black Pete. I will try and capture a photo, but I find it disturbing how much emphasis is placed on creating a black caricature like this in an educational environment. I actually felt really claustrophobic and sick to see this pictures staring down at me. Like they were a symbol of everything racist I have grown up fighting against. My inner moral compass urged me to tear them down. But, the pictures had been completed by two of the children in the class. I'm looking forward to taking my kids out of that environment, when the start a different school in a few weeks.
Spot the Piet's on the blackboard of my son's classroom. They were drawn by some of the children in his class.
In retrospect, I can now understand how the Piet character is very jolly and a generous chap, much loved by the children and parents alike. It is therefore difficult to dislike the charactor. The charactor is not the problem though. It's the blacked up faces, the painted red lips and the gold hoop earings and what they symbolise. I can understand how the familiarity of Piet blinds people to how he may be offensive. However, in the UK, we lost golliwogs and the little guy on Robinsons jams. No one really missed it, we moved on. We also no longer talk about 'handicapped' people, but people with disadvantages.
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