AMSTERDAM — As I watched Sinterklaas parade through Amsterdam on Sunday with his band of helpers, I found it difficult as an outsider not to assess the celebration as a joyful, memorable and racist affair.
Sinterklaas, the Dutch Saint Nicholas, sails down Amstel River every November. He meets Amsterdam’s mayor and parades through the city, waving and watching as his blackfaced assistants — the Zwarte Pieten, or “Black Petes” — bring cheer and cookies to children. Similar Saint Nicholas parades take place across the Netherlands.
Though the Dutch argue for their right to practice cultural traditions, it’s clear to any non-national that the Zwarte Pieten’s use of blackface makeup and the appropriation of black stereotypes appears wildly offensive.
This year, the United Nations high commissioner on human rights wrote a letter to the Dutch government, noting reports that the Zwarte Pieten arouse racism and portray people of African descent as “second-class citizens.” The Dutch government dismissed the accusations.
Individuals also filed complaints in early autumn against the city of Amsterdam for allowing the Sinterklaas parade and its racist components to take place. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan followed a recommendation by the City of Amsterdam Complaints Commission to declare the objections unfounded. The city held the parade, and hundreds of adults and children chased the procession down canals and up narrow streets.
The Dutch people I’ve met — logical, level-headed people — have expressed frustration with the criticism of their traditions. To them, it seems, people are overreacting, and the characters are good-natured and not intended to cause harm.
In reading up on the folklore, some stories even explain Zwarte Piet’s dark complexion as the result of chimney soot, not an African heritage.
But attending the celebration, it’s easy to draw comparisons between the hundreds of dancing Zwarte Pieten and the blackfaced minstrel show performers of the 19th century. The dark paint, clownish costumes, frizzy wigs and foolish behavior are the same.
It becomes difficult to wrench a longstanding cultural tradition away from a nation, and I sympathize with the Dutch people who feel violated at the efforts of outside opinions to force change.
Through an American education, we are taught to celebrate diversity, to tolerate and appreciate different cultures and to respect the customs of other nations. But respect goes both ways, and conflict arises between individual cultures and universal human rights.
The Sinterklaas debate is not unique in its problems, and we’re starting to realize that a willingness to change traditions to reach modern ideals of equality proves a necessary sacrifice in the grander scheme.
Canceling the parade seems overdramatic, but other proposed solutions included changing the color of the face paint, removing offensive accessories from the Zwarte Pieten like gold hoop earrings and fuzzy black wigs and updating the character to reflect the times. These are not unreasonable requests.
The grand arrival was the most exciting holiday celebration I’ve ever witnessed, aside from the discomfort I felt at seeing the faces of a few toddling parade-goers painted black to match Saint Nick’s helpers.
The brightly colored hats, Dutch carols and abundance of cookies spiked more holiday cheer in my heart than I would have thought possible for mid-November.
But the massive crowds in the main square would be brighter and merrier if everyone present could enjoy the coming of Saint Nicholas. A small cloud of protesters shouldn’t have to stand stoic for the abolishment of racial stereotypes.
Morgan Searles is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Baton Rouge living in Amsterdam.

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Morgan Searles

Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten sail Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013, down Amstel River toward the center of Amsterdam in The Netherlands' version of a Saint Nicholas parade.