The Piet Project

A compilation of thoughts and images of Zwarte Pieten, gollywogs, white folks in blackface and other problematic representations of the black body.

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zwarte piet chocolate and marsepein candy in brussels' hema

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this just struck me as funny after reading the Processed Life article, 'The Delicious Pleasures of Racism' the other day; thinking about blackface, pleasure, consumption, and chocolate. and here is this sinterklaas / zwarte piet themed chocolate makeup set! 

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in brussels we have zwarte piet AND père fouettard

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i will admit at first i thought, " well this zwarte piet is actually kinda cute..."

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...but then i looked inside. 

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sinterklaas season has begun! just saw this poster up at colruyt (wharehouse grocery store) what's interesting to me is that they choose not to make the sint completely out of white chocolate. 

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"...Neger has always been only part of the problem with negerzoen or negerinnentet. Negerzoen [ negro/nigger kisses] stresses the edibility of the black body and puts forward that we don’t even own our expressions of affection—even our bodily gestures of intimacy can be commodified, sold, and consumed." http://processedlives.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/the-delicious-pleasures-of-racism/

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"People take pleasure in dressing up, and acting, as Zwarte Piet. As such, pleasure plays an important role in the psychological investment that gives Zwarte Piet its cultural currency. Moreover, one of the main arguments used in defence of Zwarte Piet is that Sinterklaas is a “fun” and joyous occasion for children and by getting rid of the figure we are denying children a source of pleasure. Pleasure and racism, as well as the pain and (ongoing) trauma of slavery and colonialism, are all intertwined in the Sinterklaas tradition, which essentially (re)packages (the trauma of) “slavery as racially innocent fun.”

http://processedlives.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/the-delicious-pleasures-of-racism/

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Yeah, problematic images of blackness also have this consequence, where just being black becomes a problem: "Stop and Search UK is a new mobile app designed to monitor the use of police stop-and-search powers... Recent figures have shown that black people are now 30 times more likely to be stopped under section 60 of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act. The free app allows those searched to log an electronic record of the incident, including the officer's badge number and the area where it happened, and rate their experience. Each upload is mapped by location and can be viewed by anybody who has the app; the data will eventually be published online. The app also provides a guide to what the police can and cannot do during stops." http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2012/apr/29/phone-app-police-stop-search

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"...saw this today on Google+ and I thought I'd share with you as it has a relevance to the Piet Project since, to me, this symbolises everything that's wrong with imagery and representation of blackness/black people in Europe. While the idea for the demonstration is itself laudable, the general gollywogification of the people in the poster is depressing though not at all surprising. Well- meaning but sad!..." -a piet project supporter

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looks like les noirauds, belgium's other great blackface tradition, was in attendance at this cultural festival in brussels a couple weeks back. glad i missed it! 

http://www.brussels.be/artdet.cfm?id=4843&agendaid=726

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In 1990, after Colgate-Palmolive acquired Hawley & Hazel, the English name of the toothpaste was changed to “Darlie”, and the image on the packaging was altered to show a racially ambiguous face in a top hat. The Chinese name of the brand, “黑人牙膏” (in English, “Black Person Toothpaste”), remains the same, and a Chinese-language advertising campaign reassured customers that “Black Person Toothpaste is still Black Person Toothpaste”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie

photo: http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=008461

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The Associated Press reported that the advert had not "ruffled many in Thailand, where it's common for advertisements to inexplicably use racial stereotypes". The news agency said a herbal Thai toothpaste was available with the tagline "it's black, but it's good", while advertising for the Black Man brand of household mops showed a "smiling black man in a tuxedo and bow tie". http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/30/dunkin-donuts-racist-thai-advert-blackface

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The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was shocked to see an American brand name running an advertising campaign that would draw “howls of outrage” if released in the United States. And what about the American companies that operate in the Netherlands and who have fully featured Zwarte Piet in their advertisement for years? I approached Human Righs Watch’s Netherlands office in June about Zwarte Piet and was promptly told that they wouldn’t do anything about the figure. http://www.roetinheteten.info/2013/09/dunkin-donuts-and-human-rights-watchs-netherlands-hypocrisy/

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Ready to hear the most pathetic defense of blackface of all time? An adjunct college instructor argued that a group of pals who darkened their skin to lip-sync to The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" didn't do anything wrong because they raised money and she wasn't in it. http://jezebel.com/professor-argues-blackface-is-a-ok-as-long-as-its-for-1308559196

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"The gollywog is a product and symbol of a time when white people believed (really believed) they were superior and black people inferior. Is it racist to know this fact and still sell this doll."- Lemn Sissay http://blog.lemnsissay.com/2013/09/06/golly-blog-2/

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not cool Oxfam, not cool. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/oxfam-slammed-anti-racist-group-selling-2262913