Mona Pereth wrote:
Perhaps one of the helpers could be black, but be played by an actual black person instead of a white person wearing (exaggerated, caricaturish) blackface? It seems to me that a non-caricatured multi-racial set of helpers, perhaps with an actual black person as second-in-command, might perhaps be the best way to send a positive message to all children in the Netherlands.
It's highly unlikely the Dutch people will give up on this tradition. I am not sure "blackface" in Holland has the same negative cultural connotation as it did in the USA? In the US blackface was designed to denigrate and dehumanise black people. Americans culturally normalised the idea black people (and people with physical deformities) are like human zoos in a circus where you could keep an arm's length and throw rotten fruit and laugh.
In stark contrast, Zwarte Piet is a loved character for whom Dutch people have genuine affection for. Black people in Holland have only until recently not a had a problem with this cultural icon. However, with globalisation, the BLM movement and black consciousness being exported outside of the US, many younger dutch people of African origin are now sensitive over Zwarte Piet. And it's no wonder, He is basically a caricature, the dutch paint themselves the darkest shade of black paint, wear ridiculous afros and paint their lips bright red to accentuate lip size.
But again, I think it more likely offends African Americans > Dutch born africans