Abstract
The traditional figure of Black Pete seen during the December festivities around Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa Claus) in the Netherlands has sparked fierce debates about his racial stereotypical characteristics and his potentially negative effects on children’s opinions about black people. The Black Pete phenomenon has even been discussed by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, resulting in a report urging the Netherlands to eliminate this form of racial stereotyping. The adult debate about Black Pete is clearly important, but Sinterklaas is essentially a children’s holiday. Surprisingly, there have never been any systematic studies to examine children’s views on Black Pete. The current study is the first to do so. In a sample of 201 children aged 5–7 years, we collected free descriptions of Black Pete, asked children to group him in relation to other figures, and to assign characteristics to him and comparison figures. The results showed that (1) Children are clearly aware of Black Pete’s skin color and subordinate status; (2) Children associate Black Pete more with clowns than with black people; (3) Children evaluate Black Pete very positively, but the positive characteristics do not generalize to their evaluation of black people. The findings illustrate the deep-rooted childhood origins of many Dutch people’s affection for Black Pete and their lack of awareness of his relation to racial stereotypes. This explains the resistance to changing the Black Pete figure and the slowness of the change process on this front.
Highlights
The Netherlands is famous for many things, some positive, some negative, some controversial
The current study aims to investigate (1) children’s awareness of Black Pete’s skin color and subordinate status; (2) their categorization of Black Pete as a fantasy figure or a black person or something else entirely; (3) their evaluations of Black Pete and whether these generalize to their evaluations of black people
The results of the current study regarding Dutch young children’s perceptions of Black Pete can be summarized as follows: (1) Children are clearly aware of Black Pete’s skin color and subordinate status; (2) Children associate Black Pete more with clowns than with black people; (3) Children evaluate Black Pete very positively, but the positive characteristics do not generalize to their evaluation of black people
Summary
The Netherlands is famous for many things, some positive, some negative, some controversial. The Dutch celebration of Sinterklaas ranks among the most controversial. On the 5th of December, Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands and in parts of Belgium, and the former Dutch colonies (such as Surinam). Children receive gifts from the legendary bishop who has supposedly sailed with his steamer from Spain to Holland accompanied by his mostly male and sometimes female helpers who all go by the name of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). Black Pete traditionally has his face painted black (much like a Blackface Minstrel), his lips red, wears an afro wig and gold hoop earrings, and dresses like a Moorish page from the 17th century.
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