Blackface Matters even in Orange Country
The Dutch are a colorful people, They are well known for being open minded and free, of which the Red Light District and abundant white lines and little green bags of Amsterdam are clear examples. Their remarkable appreciation of different colors might be a valuable lesson for America as well.
On the one hand, many Dutch professional athletes and their fans have recently decided to dress in orange as a clear sign of appreciation of the 45th President of the United States. There is a big party held every year with many people wearing orange and singing a song called ‘Orange On Top’, or OOT, the Dutch rendition of MAGA.
On the other hand there are more and more people sympathizing with what Donald Trump would call an anti American terrorist organization: Black Lives Matter. Although noone has ever been shot in Holland in its entire history (at least noone that didn’t deserve it), many Dutch people seem concerned about blacks being the victim of police brutality in the States. To show their support, they all paint their faces black.
The so called “Zwarte Pieten” (Black Petes) go to schools and sport clubs to teach children about the importance of black lives, or in fact any life, except that of unborn children. “Black Pete is as Dutch as liberal politics and abortion”, says one spokesperson. The claim that Black Pete, who dresses like a 17th century page and has exaggerated thick lips and curly hair, is a racist symbol of slavery, he resolutely calls ‘fake news’.
To prove his point, he mentions the fact that the Black Petes are always accompanied by a senile old man some call Sinterklaas. This man is not the white man in charge of black slaves, as some people claim he is, but an illustration of how demographic changes will make it inevitable that our children in the future will be taken care of by nursing staff of every possible color.
The way these two opposing views are reconciled might bet he way forward for divided America, because surprisingly the same people that dress up as Black Pete are very likely to wear orange at other occasions. Tolerance still prevails in Holland.