Toronto Star's Cover: Treasured Dutch Family Tradition, from Amsterdam to Toronto ' Black Face Pete ' (723 hits)
It’s a treasured Dutch family tradition, from Amsterdam to Toronto. The arrival of Sinterklaas in a bishop’s red robes (the original Santa Claus), accompanied by his helper Zwarte Piet, otherwise known as “Black Pete.”
But the centuries-old custom of playing Black Pete in blackface with bright red lips and a curly black wig remains controversial, even if he’s rarely portrayed like that in Toronto.
At Sinterklaas events held in public — like the one Wednesday at the Distillery District — Black Pete has evolved into a cheeky pageboy in a black wig, his face smudged with soot as he slides down chimneys to deliver gifts.
It’s only at private events — there was one at the Bata Shoe Museum last weekend — that Black Pete still cavorts in full blackface.
“We have to respect other people’s feelings,” says Martin van Denzen, the president of Toronto’s Dutch-Canadian Association who frequently plays Sinterklaas. “Do we have to put the wig on? No, but it’s part of the getup.”
“When we have a St. Nicolas party for our own community, we have Black Peters. No two ways about it … the kids expect it,” he says. “And for the older people, you should see their faces, the memories it brings back.”
Despite the beloved nature of Sinterklaas, calls to leave Black Pete in the past are getting louder, even in the Netherlands.
As they should be, says Rosemary Sadlier, president of the Ontario Black History Society.
“He’s not a character who is on par with Santa Claus. He is lesser. He’s not a positive symbol at all,” says Sadlier. “It’s about an obtuse and obscene portrayal of Africans … It turns them into caricatures.
“I think we have to look at it as a vestige of a time long past and it needs to end.”
As Dutch tradition has it, St. Nicolas — or Sinterklaas — arrives on a steamer from Spain accompanied by an entourage of Moorish helpers known as Black Petes. On the night of Dec. 5, he rides across the rooftops on a white horse and the Petes slide down chimneys delivering presents to children who’ve been good.
Over the centuries Black Pete has gone through a few makeovers. He was once a bogeyman figure said to kidnap naughty children and take them back to Spain.
During the years of Dutch involvement in the slave trade and colonialism, he became portrayed as a clumsy servant or slave, often speaking with an accent.
He once used to hold a rod and threaten to beat children, says Tom Bijvoet, the B.C.-based editor of magazine Dutch. As corporal punishment became unacceptable the rod disappeared, and Pete became known as a fun-loving, mischievous character.
So why does the black makeup persist despite its association with minstrel traditions?
“The blackface tradition did not exist in the Netherlands as minstrel shows,” says Bijvoet. “Both traditions use black makeup but they have completely separate developments with completely different meanings.”
Still, for many critics, the historical context makes Black Pete difficult to stomach.
Within the Netherlands too, complaints are stacking up, says Jessica Silversmith, director of the regional Anti-Discrimination Bureau for Amsterdam.
“The Sinterklaas celebration once began without Zwarte Piet,” Amsterdam city councillor Andree van Es told newspaper Het Parool this week. “It’s time it continues without Zwarte Piet.”
Van Denzen says most Torontonians are understanding once the origins of the tradition are explained. He is adamant that no one would ever dress up as Black Pete outside a Sinterklaas celebration.
“That’s totally unacceptable,” he says. “If you do this at any other time of the year, then you’re asking for trouble.”
He is also certain that Black Pete will continue to be part of the Dutch Christmas celebrations for a long time — though perhaps in a more socially acceptable form.
“Traditions have to change to what society is all about,” says Wendy Limbertie, the executive director of the Community Folk Art Council of Toronto, who is also of Dutch origin.
Wednesday’s Sinterklaas appearance on Wednesday was deliberately organized without Black Pete in blackface.
“It’s about time they address it,” Limbertie says. “Just because it was a tradition in 1979 that doesn’t mean it has to be tradition in 2012.”
