Anti-blackface protests planned in five cities, starting today

Kick Out Zwarte Piet will be protesting against the blackface Sinterklaas character between November 14 and December 5 in at least five cities, the group of anti-racism activists announced. On Facebook, they called on everyone interested to join their demonstrations against this "most visible form of institutional racism", while adhering to the coronavirus measures.

KOZP specifically called on those who participated in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests over the summer to join them this year. "It is not possible to support Black Lives Matter without being against Zwarte Piet," the organization said. "We therefore call on all BLM demonstrators to, just like in the summer, take peaceful action against the most visible form of institutional racism in the Netherlands: Zwarte Piet."

So far, demonstrations are planned in Breda on today, Maastricht on November 15, Weert and Venlo on November 21, and Eindhoven on November 22. 

KOZP also called on supporters to organize their own peaceful and coronavirus-safe actions, and share them with the hashtag #2020ZwartePietVrij. 

More information about the demonstrations can be found here. 

A recent poll by EenVandaag showed that support for Zwarte Piet in his blackface form is waning among the Dutch population. This year, 55 percent of people said they want to keep Zwarte Piet in his traditional form, down from 71 percent last year. 

Dutch libraries also started removing children's books featuring the blackface character from their shelves.