Several anti-Zwarte Piet protests planned next week

Activist group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) will organise actions in at least four locations in the coming weeks to protest against the presence of Zwarte Piet during the traditional Sinterklaas parade. A demonstration is scheduled for November 18 in De Lier, Zuid-Holland. The next day, the activists will go to Drunen and Etten-Leur in Noord-Brabant, and a protest is planned for November 25 in Enter, Overijssel.

KOZP is an anti-racism activist group that has been protesting against the use of racist stereotypes and blackface makeup for Zwarte Piet for 13 years. Zwarte Piet is often portrayed as the buffoonish assistant to Sinterklaas by white people wearing chocolate brown or black face makeup, curly black wigs, a thick coat of lipstick to give the appearance of big lips, large hoop earrings, and a Moorish costume.

Last week, it was announced that KOZP is working with climate activists from Extinction Rebellion to protest this blackface tradition this year. They sent a letter to dozens of municipalities calling on them to stop using Zwarte Piet during parades. The activist groups also announced that municipalities that do not comply with the demand should "fear peaceful, civil disobedience actions."

According to KOZP leader Jerry Afriyie, several municipalities contacted the activist group following the letter. He declined to say how many did so. Afriyie said that some municipalities said they will switch to “roetveegpieten” (sooty-faced Zwarte Piet). "We are checking that now,” he said.

The municipality of Westland, which includes De Lier, sent a response to the letter from KOZP. "We have not yet received a response from Kick Out Zwarte Piet to our offer to arrange a meeting between them and the Sinterklaas committees," said a spokesperson for Mayor Bouke Arends. Arends indicated that he will not interfere with the color of the Zwarte Piets in his municipality. "That is up to the organizing committees."

A counter-action has also been announced in the municipality. According to the spokesperson, the mayor spoke to a representative of this group and requested that "the parades be allowed to take place as a children's festival and that they not seek confrontation." The municipality will allow the demonstration. "Demonstrating is a fundamental right. We will facilitate this as best we can, with the aim of making it safe for demonstrators and the public."

KOZP declared they want Zwarte Piet to be abolished permanently in the year in which the Netherlands commemorates the end of slavery 150 years ago. "In the run-up to the commemoration year, the government and the king apologized for this crime against humanity. However, this is meaningless as long as we do nothing about the daily stereotyping of black Dutch people and the widespread anti-black racism in society. That is why we demand that Zwarte Piet be abolished during this commemoration year,” the activist group stated.