[Slide 1] As we have already pointed out, there is no denying the racist connotations of Zwarte Piet when correctly historically

contextualised however, paradoxically, it is exactly denial which appears to fuel the opinion of the greater proportion of the Dutch population. I would like to elaborate on why it is i portant to not dis iss popular opinion and to carefully consider the detri ental effects which abolishing the tradition of Zwarte Piet could have in present social and political context of the ulticultural !etherlands. "#lide $%&Zwarte Piet is no sign of racis but belongs to the Dutch 'ulture and (radition) reads the description of the supportive *acebook group, which has gathered ore than twice the a ount of likes of it+s opponent &Zwarte Piet is ,acis e). &!onsense, absolute nonsense) has been a popular reply by Dutch citi-ens when asked to share their opinion on the issue. I took it upon yself to not draw generali-ations fro the edia and to conduct so e interviews yself I was surprised to find that even friends of ine of Antillian roots were of the exact sa e opinion. I found expat residents such as yself to be the ost critical of all. Although ethical decisions do should not concern the majority, (QUOTE?), there is no denying that the a.ority has the power, and this is exactly why a decision concerning the abolish ent or a end ent of the traditional figure, should be taken very cautiously. exagtal meaning - based on own experience "#lide /012 ,A'I#34 Allochtoon0Autochtoon% (his past onth the national 5 buds an Alex Brenninkmeijer ade an official state ent concerning the &racist political cli ate) in (he !etherlands, urging for the govern ent to take responsibility by starting a nation wide anti4 discri ination ca paign. As one of the ost e ancipated countries of 6estern 7urope, it is only natural that the Dutch would find such clai s offensive and absurd. 8ut the 9uestion of &racis ) in the !etherlands is also largely affiliated to the structuring of the political discourse which surrounds. #ince $::1 &ethnicity) no longer exists in the country, within legal ter ; instead, as we have previously adressed in class, the Dutch population is co only referred to as being split into two a biguous categories. (he &autochtoon), the real Dutch, and the &allochtoon), the not 9uite dutch. (his social construction has largely deter ined the way that Dutch society has been shaped and co e to perceive itself. (he lack of racial classification in the !etherlands is therefore one of the factors which pushes the !etherlands to not perceive the selves as a racist nation, along with the lack of recognition of the colonial history which we have entioned and will further elaborate on. (herefore the Zwarte Piet tradition is not in itself inspiring new racis , but is contributing to a nor alisation of racist, discri inatory discourses. I was shocked to find the nu erous results of racist hu our adopted in dutch (elevision, a search sti ulated by the an extract of <olland+s =ot (alent which went viral on the internet last week, where the >ury hu iliates an oriental contestant. ARRESTS AT DOODRECHT "#?ID7 @0A 2 =?5'A? panicBB C exa ples of glocal panic, swing to the right, conservativis % <owever we are not here to defend racist tendencies in the !etherlands, but rather to avoid a contribution to the already ongoing shift to the right. In a period of econo ic crisis it is only easy to point fingers at the $:D of the country which is referred to as &Allochtoon). P,A(I'A??E2 it is not sti ulating any racis , but it is nor alising racist discourse A85?I#<37!( F will fuel racis !aturally, there are very few dutch citi-ens which would be willing to *irst and fore ost what

should be considered are the reactions which the discussion has provoked. The native Dutch see themselves as the legitimate owners of the collective goods of the modern state. This general sentiment can be proved by the popularity of political statements such as The Netherlands is only for the Dutch by Fortuyn and references to the native people first movements in the media. Furthermore, it is supported by the fact that L F, !! and T"N have primarily #autochtoon$ or native Dutch people vote for them.
But this can also be seen as a form of glocal panic (De Cauter 2003): narrow-minded local reactions to the consequences of globalization and mass migration

@. 3arti.n Goning 3arti.n Goning voicing y fears in a co edy sketch letter to the kids &(here are so e people that want to ruin your #interklaas celebrations, and these are brown people. A celebration which is eant to bring together black and white, but no, there are so e brown kill.oys who have digged into details and found that so ewhere there ay be a link to the slave trade). A. 7xa ples of interviews to friends But the issue does not only manifest itself in conservativism, but also indifference [aporia] . dissonance (occurs when a person is confronted with forms of knowledge or cognitions that are inconsistent with each other) - dealing with a painful aspect of the past / possibiliy of losing part of the traditio An important debate has been opened - EDUCATION IS THE KEY HOW TO DEAL WITH DISSONANCE ---> leading to Ariane Indifference and ignorance, the for er fuelled by the latter.