Zwarte Piet, a caricature of an enslaved Black man, acts as an effective gatekeeper on who is allowed to be critical of Dutch culture.
Every year, from mid-November to early December, a collective festive pandemonium sweeps over the Netherlands, as folks prepare for the arrival and ensuing antics of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. Divorced from its pre-Reformation connection to Catholicism, the gift-giving festival is supposedly inclusive of all families, and is heavily marketed as a ‘party’ for all children.
However, when taking into account Zwarte Piet — or Black Pete, a racist depiction of an enslaved Black man — one might assume that the inclusion of such a character would immediately exclude Black revellers. On the other hand, die-hard Sinterklaas fans state that all who are truly Dutch love the festival; in fact, you aren’t really Dutch if you don’t celebrate. So, where does this leave Black children and families in the Netherlands?
It’s a matter of tradition
Zwarte Piet, a caricature of an enslaved Black man, has historically accompanied Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) to deliver gifts and sweets to well-behaved Dutch children each winter for one of the most popular festivals in the country (Esajas, 2014; Hesloot, 2012; Rodenberg & Wagenaar, 2016). Although the use of blackface is not as widespread as it used to be, for decades, white performers have depicted the Piet character using black face paint, Afro wigs, gold earrings and exaggerated Surinamese accents, demonstrating a Dutch case of racial mimicry (Smith, 2014; Wekker, 2016). Criticism of this depiction has repeatedly been belittled and demonised until very recent years due to the widespread common-sense perception that the Netherlands is intrinsically a white country for white people.
Observing who is allowed to participate in (discussions of) cultural tradition generation and adaptation helps us to understand who is truly accepted as belonging to a society (Anderson, 1983; Hobsbawm, 1992). The Netherlands prides itself on its international reputation of tolerance, democracy and the right to demonstrate (Goldberg, 2014). Nonetheless, socio-political discourses around ‘(im)migrant’ populations and integration suggest otherwise (Geschiere, 2009), especially when one brings up the topic of Zwarte Piet (Aouragh, 2019: 7; Essed, 2014: 73; Tavares, 2004).
What has historically been evoked by the so-called ‘Zwarte Piet debate’ are notions of an apparent ungrateful ‘immigrant’ community (Ghorashi, 2014; Nzume et al., 2020); outright denials of racism despite evidence to the contrary (Gario, 2018: 76); and/or a sense of a nativist entitlement to do or say anything, even (or especially) if it is racist (Essed & Hoving, 2014). Ben Coates, a Brit writing about his time living and working in the Netherlands, captures this behaviour and attitude in his book Why the are Dutch Different (2015):
‘A tall young man standing next to me picked up his daughter and gestured gleefully towards the face-painted Zwarte Pieten in the distance. ‘Look at the stupid black men!’ he said. The Dutch, as always, were determined to keep having a good time’ (277-278).
The 2023 Dutch election results further demonstrated this outlook and dissonance, as one of the very first pledges Geert Wilders (leader at that time of the winning far-right People’s Freedom Party) was to reinstate blackfaced Zwarte Piet to the centre of Sinterklaas (Rijswijk Dagsblad, 2023). At the same time, parents, teachers and carers of young children in the Netherlands — especially those of African descent — remain conflicted about if, how and when to engage with the Sinterklaas festivities, as it often also means exposing children to dehumanising mimicries of Black people (Cain, 2018: 180; Emanuels, 2023; Van de Velde, 2019).
The continued promotion and defence of one of the most iconic, infamous and illustrative examples of Dutch racism towards Black people (Aouragh, 2019: 4) understandably leaves many Afro-Dutch folks wondering how they fit into a culture built to reject them. This becomes even more salient given that recent research findings suggest that Black Dutch children do not see themselves as truly Dutch because they are not white (Van Nuland, 2024), poignantly illustrating the othering affects of images and narratives such as Zwarte Piet (following Griffith, 2020).
When traditions change
‘In 1927, a Black man was called to appear before a judge in Rotterdam after he hit a harbour worker for calling him a Zwarte Piet, something he stated in his defence happens to black people all the time…He was given a minor fine. A few years later when boxer Albert Lafour handled a few children roughly after they called him Zwarte Piet the police officer involved considered Lafour’s response appropriate and no further action was taken against him’ (Völke, 2020: 12).
The Netherlands has a long and tortured history of anti-racist struggle, especially concerning Zwarte Piet (Völke, 2020). Although campaigners have denounced the Piet character for at least 100 years, the Zwarte Piet is Racisme and Kick Out Zwarte Piet demonstrations since 2011 accelerated the adjustments that are currently reflected in contemporary celebrations of Sinterklaas (Esajas, 2014; Gario, 2018; Kerkhoff-Parnell & Kerkmeijer, 2024; Nederland Wordt Beter, 2025; Parnell-Berry, 2019; Völke, 2020).
Caption: Jerry Afriyie (left) and Quinsy Gario (second left) pictured with fellow protesters at Dam Square in Amsterdam, November 2011, for a Zwarte Piet is Racisme demonstration. Gario founded Zwarte Piet is Racisme as an anti-racist art campaign earlier the same year, with Afriyie joining him later. Photo credit: Bel Kerkhoff-Parnell
Numerous organisations and coalitions, including Nederland Wordt Beter, The Black Archives, Samen Tegen Racisme and the European Race and Imagery Foundation (ERIF), have galvanised anti-racist campaigners around the country to make the Netherlands a more inclusive nation, starting with updating one of the most beloved Dutch festivals by removing its inherent Afrophobia. For example, ERIF’s broader vision and mission is to create a vocabulary and platform that valorises anti-racist efforts—both contemporarily and historically — to challenge white nativist notions of belonging across Europe (Parnell-Berry & Michel, 2021; ERIF, 2025).
Within this socio-political context, since 2011, Nederland Wordt Beter (‘the Netherlands can be better’) has been advocating for a ‘party for all children’ via street demonstrations, but also by working closely with brands, schools and local authorities to develop Piet-free products, parties and parades that all children can participate in with pride.
Meanwhile, since 2015, ERIF has undertaken yearly research capturing the efforts of organisations, such as Nederland Wordt Beter, by reviewing the evolution of Zwarte Piet imagery on Sinterklaas merchandise over time. A review of their nine published research reports (so far) suggests sustained anti-racist campaigns have arguably pushed businesses to revise their Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet offerings dramatically, but what can this tell us about how inclusive the Dutch genuinely are? 
The image on the left was captured in Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn in November 2015 for ERIF’s annual Sinterklaas Brand and Product study, and depicts the packaging of a chocolate letter, a popular treat during the festival, featuring Zwarte Piet. The image on the right was also captured in an Albert Heijn for the same study by ERIF, this time in November 2024, and shows a very different style of packaging, without the Zwarte Piet character. Photo credits: European Race and Imagery Foundation.
As astutely observed by Gloria Wekker in her 2016 book White Innocence, whiteness acts as an effective gatekeeper on who is allowed to be critical of Dutch culture more generally, with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet merely emerging as illustrative examples of further-flung socially exclusive practices. Numerous anti-racist campaigners and scholars have boldly and explicitly pointed out the falsehoods in white Dutch self-perception, as well as the related double standards inherent in who is consistently and safely allowed to be critical of Dutch culture (Esajas, 2018; Essed, 1991; Essed & Hoving, 2014; Essed & Trienekens, 2008; Kaersenhout, 2018; Martina, 2013; Prins & Saharso, 2010; Ramanujam, 2017; Weiner & Báez, 2018).
Moreover, student organiser Levi Ommen described the level of violence anti-Zwarte Piet activists have faced in recent years, connecting these outbursts to the broader issue of racism in the Netherlands:
‘I was there for the KOZP conference in Den Haag on the 8th November [2019], when it was violently attacked by pro-Piet hooligans with fireworks…At this point, I believe it’s not even about Zwarte Piet anymore…They wanted to beat us up anyway, but they didn’t have a good enough reason to…When we’re done with Zwarte Piet, which is an institutional problem, there will still be more societal issues that need to change’ (Ommen, 2020: 24).
Similar scenes, as those described by Ommen, were witnessed more recently in 2023 in De Lier, when anti-racist demonstrators were confronted and attacked by a violent, white mob (NOS, 2023). Thus, the amount of xenophobia and physical violence levelled towards Black-led, anti-racist groups over the past decade shows the progress that still needs to be made in order for the Netherlands to open up and be more inclusive truly. In short, many collective steps need to be taken for all of us to belong here and participate within Dutch culture beyond the 5th of December.
The continued promotion and defence of one of the most iconic, infamous and illustrative examples of Dutch racism towards Black people (Aouragh, 2019: 4) understandably leaves many Afro-Dutch folks wondering how they fit into a culture built to reject them. This becomes even more salient given that recent research findings suggest that Black Dutch children do not see themselves as truly Dutch because they are not white (Van Nuland, 2024), poignantly illustrating the othering affects of images and narratives such as Zwarte Piet (following Griffith, 2020).
Belonging
‘[W]e are interested in how European understandings of home, belonging, space, citizenship and identity are racialised…We consider imagery to be representations that explicitly and implicitly associate racial difference with expectations regarding ways of being and acting. In this case to communicate what Europe is, who should belong here and who does not’ (ERIF, 2025).
After years of public denials, even former Dutch Prime Minister and fierce defender of Zwarte Piet Mark Rutte reluctantly admitted that Zwarte Piet is racist and should be changed (BBC News, 2020). ERIF’s research has shown that various stores and brands share this sentiment to some degree, as the most anti-Black depictions of the caricature seem to slowly be fading away, demonstrating conclusively that it should be possible to have a Sinterklaas festival that does not exclude Black people through dehumanising and mocking them—at least at the market level (Kerkhoff-Parnell & Kerkmeijer, 2024).
Then again, there is a strong argument to be made that politicians, public figures and marketplaces alike have genuine concerns about their (international) reputations and do not necessarily wish to be aligned with racist, violent thugs. As stated by podcast editor and campaigner Mariam El Maslouhi:
‘The police were really afraid to make the same mistakes as last year, where they wouldn’t let us demonstrate in Den Haag. So, they got a lot of criticism, also from Amnesty International and as Den Haag, the city of peace and justice’ (El Maslouhi, 2020: 22).
This does not appear to necessarily point towards some sort of anti-racist transformation in the Netherlands. As a recent poll conducted by EenVandaag demonstrated, while the majority of research panel participants agreed Zwarte Piet should be changed, a follow-up poll indicated that this was more about keeping the peace and moving on than actually conceding that racism was being perpetuated (Lubbe & Kester, 2020). Moreover, in the last Dutch election, voters overwhelmingly chose xenophobic and socially exclusionary political ideologies, which actually valorise anti-Black rhetoric in Dutch society.
However, looking at this another way, if it is true that children learn about their own racial identities and socio-racial stratification through the (albeit subtle) media messages they are exposed to, with Sinterklaas being a major source in the Netherlands, then it is also evermore arguable that major Dutch brands have a key role to play. If they continue to phase out Zwarte Piet from their merchandise, the character’s role within the broader Sinterklaas mythology will be diminished. This will offer a beautiful opportunity in the not-so-distant future for all Dutch families — and businesses — to reimagine how we can all live, shop and play together. If the most popular festival sets a good example, surely the rest can follow?
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Race in the Marketplace network, for their constructive feedback and encouragement over the years, which has supported this research—particularly Sonya Grier, Judy Foster Davis and Kwame Harrison. Also, my dear friends and colleagues at the European Race and Imagery Foundation—especially my research partner Martijn Kerkmeijer, without whom this research this article is largely based on would not be possible.
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