Dutch citizens are fighting a losing battle against the anti-racist version of the celebrations of Saint Nicholas, but the huge election victory of anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has given them a shot in the arm.
Abandoned by the political establishment, the media, and artistic circles, but armed with rotten eggs, tomatoes, firecrackers and a manure container, about a hundred good humored yokels had gathered in the Village of De Lier. They were ready to pick a fight with anti-racist protesters bused-in from the nearby city of The Hague and determined to spoil the festive entry of Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, and his black valets, Zwarte Pieten — Black Petes. (READ MORE from René ter Steege: Poles Vote on Immigration While Other Europeans Suffer)
Self-proclaimed inspectors of diversity had previously visited De Lier, instructing the mayor that during the welcoming parade of Saint Nicholas on November 18, the accompanying Black Petes should not be made up … as blacks. Or, as they put it, “as racist and colonial caricatures.”
The mayor politely but firmly told his visitors, members of the activist group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP), that his mandate did not include deciding on the colors of people’s faces during the festive season. And sent them packing. He knew that his small town was now in for a visit of anti-racist demonstrators hell-bent on spoiling the eagerly awaited entry of the nation’s favorite “saint” and his colorful entourage, culminating in the distribution of presents on 5 December.
People have started organizing their own old-school festivities, without telling local authorities possibly infiltrated by KOZP.
Kick Out Zwarte Piet — which also has a problem with the Dutch language — cobbled together a set of conditions that towns and villages have to adhere to if they wish to be assured of a “festive and inclusive entry of Saint Nicholas and his helpers.” If they refuse, anti-racist commandos will muscle in or disrupt meetings of the city council.
Local officials should therefore ensure that not a single face of Zwarte Piet is grimed entirely in black, as the much maligned black face caricature in the United States. A black coloring of the faces is allowed, but only as “traces of soot,” left on the helpers’ faces as they go down chimneys at night to bring their presents when the children are asleep. The distance between the traces should be wide enough to avoid any connection with the hated blackface model.
Black Petes, the list goes on, should speak Dutch correctly and not express themselves in a halting, primitive way as depicted in drawings deemed racists, such as the infamous Tintin in the Congo. Organizers of the entry of Saint Nicholas on his traditional white horse should also ascertain that his valets do not wear huge “golden” earrings or “Afro” wigs. Red lipstick is to be used parsimoniously. Finally, the cohort of joyous Black Petes, distributing candy among the children, should be of diverse origins, to be reflected in the colors of hair and skin. (READ MORE: Is Civil War on the Horizon in France?)
The activists know that most of the hated caricatures of another age, some of them indeed disparaging people of color, have been phased out over the last decades. Authentic black faces are now few and far between. Nonetheless, the mayor and the citizens of De Lier witnessed the arrival in the morning of November 18 of three buses chartered by Kick Out Zwarte Piet. Their occupants vowed, as in other towns and villages, to protest peacefully, but more than once militants managed to ruin this occasion with their aggressive slogans and demeanor, frightening young children and their parents along the route. Thus, the entry of Saint Nicholas has often been marred by the threatening atmosphere associated with high-risk soccer matches.
Young citizens defending the age-old tradition have taken on demonstrators bused-in from the large cities in the west of the country, where over half of the population is descended from non-European immigration. These often bi-national citizens are not keen to preserve a tradition they have not been brought up in, and are told by left-wing politicians and BLM-activists is racist to the core.
The political class has, over the years, surrendered to the woke version of the festivities, as have the public broadcaster NPO and acting conservative Prime minister Mark Rutte. He left politics recently after his rickety four-party government coalition collapsed over his modest plans to restrict the rights of refugees to have their countless relatives come over to the Netherlands. Mr. Rutte had long held the view that “Black Pete is black, period.” But a few years ago, he changed his mind after conversations with citizens who feel hurt by what they perceive as a racist stereotype. For this, people of the nationalist Right only half in jest suggested that the PM should be put on trial for high treason.
If some Dutch people feel abandoned and give in, others prefer to rebel against what they see as a violent anti-white lobby. Such as the young people from De Lier and its surrounding area devoted to horticulture. They were determined to chase the anti-racists from the village and pelted them with eggs, stones, and firecrackers and moved a manure container into an offensive position. The police baton-charged the country boys and girls, moving them away from the protesters who were then accompanied back to their buses. A few minutes later, Saint Nicholas and his entourage made a triumphant, undisturbed, and traditional entry into the rain-soaked village.
Last year, young people from the small Calvinist town of Staphorst, in the east of the country, had successfully blocked anti-racist demonstrators on the road leading to the center. People of the northern province of Friesland had cut off a busy motorway, forcing a coach filled with demonstrators to return to Amsterdam. In both cases, the Dutch justice system criticized only the counter-demonstrators, for putting at risk their opponents’ lives. (READ MORE: The Netherlands’ Big Brother Statue)
The traditionalists were heartened by the electoral triumph of Geert Wilders at parliamentary elections on November 22. His Freedom Party (PVV) won by a landslide, its 25 percent of the vote assuring it 37 seats of the 150 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the largest group by far. Its election manifesto not only proposes to ban mosques, the Quran, and stopping the entry of all asylum seekers. The defense of the traditional festivities of Sinterklaas also takes pride of place. For this, Wilders, who has been condemned to death by Al Qaida for his criticism of Islam, will have to form a governing coalition first. His coming to power would revive the culture war that non-European immigration has dragged the Netherlands into.
Meanwhile, the resistance of the traditionalists has dwindled to about fifty towns and villages, according to Dutch media. In some villages, people have started organizing their own old-school festivities, without telling local authorities possibly infiltrated by KOZP. Which has urged its members to be on the look-out for suspicious right-wing activities in the run-up to December 5. This has somewhat doused the festive spirit, the newspaper Het Parool noticed the other day. In a village near Amsterdam, a traditionalist came home to find his front window besmirched with a swastika. An opponent was called a “collaborator,” which harks back to the Nazi Occupation.
A recent poll suggested that only one out of three Dutch citizens still defends the traditional Black Pete, whose enemies have mobilized environmental activists of Extinction Rebellion to mop up the remaining pockets of resistance.
