After 15 years, Dutch anti-blackface group declares victory, but Aruba brings him back

THE HAGUE--Dutch anti-blackface campaigners say they have largely won their fight against “Black Pete” in the Netherlands, yet across the Kingdom the debate is far from settled, with Aruba now plunged back into a fierce argument over the return of the character in full blackface during this year’s official Sinterklaas parade.

For more than a decade, the campaign group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) has worked to remove the caricatured helper of St. Nicholas from Dutch celebrations. Founder Jerry Afriyie remembers a time when the streets in early December were filled with white adults in dark make-up, curly wigs, bright red lips and gold earrings; for him and many others, the image came straight from the country’s colonial and slave-trading past.

Afriyie and fellow activists set three goals when they started in 2010: Dutch schools should teach more honestly about colonial history and slavery, there should be an annual remembrance for the victims of slavery, and the traditional Black Pete figure should disappear from public celebrations. KOZP organized peaceful protests wherever Sinterklaas appeared with blackface helpers. Those actions often met hostility; demonstrators were pelted with eggs or fireworks, and the controversy drew international attention and criticism of a country that liked to see itself as tolerant.

The global reckoning with racism in 2020 gave the movement new momentum. Then prime minister Mark Rutte, who had long brushed off concerns with remarks such as “Black Pete is just black,” abruptly shifted position and urged organizers to modernize the tradition. Many municipalities and national broadcasters moved to “soot-smudged” Petes, presented as chimney sweepers rather than caricatures of Black people, or dropped the make-up entirely.

Afriyie says the goal was never only to change costumes but to make people see that the old image was harmful. What once felt, in his words, “as normal as Dutch pancakes” is now questioned even by children. He notes that when adults casually say “Zwarte Piet,” some youngsters already reply that it is simply “Piet.”

The shift is visible in the data. An Ipsos poll shows that the share of Dutch residents who want to keep Black Pete as he was has fallen to 38 percent, compared with 65 percent in 2016. At many televised parades and official events, the blackface version has disappeared, replaced by colorful or lightly sooted helpers. KOZP felt confident enough in this trend that it did not organize any protests around this year’s Sinterklaas season.

Yet resistance remains strong in some quarters. Supporters of the old figure insist that the character is innocent fun and accuse critics of politicizing a children’s feast. Far-right leader Geert Wilders and others on the populist right have embraced Black Pete as a symbol of Dutch identity under threat, and at recent anti-immigration rallies some protesters again appeared in full blackface costumes. Afriyie cautions that although the campaign against Black Pete has made big gains, the wider struggle against racism in the Netherlands is far from over.

That mixed picture inside the European part of the Kingdom contrasts sharply with the developments in Aruba this year. After several years in which the island’s official Sinterklaas parade featured only colorful or soot-smudged Petes, the organizing foundation reintroduced helpers in full blackface during the 2025 entry.

The images spread rapidly on social media. Supporters celebrated the return of what they called “the real Petes,” but critics warned that the move revived a racist stereotype that Aruba had consciously moved away from. The tone online hardened quickly. People who spoke out against Black Pete were insulted, accused of “ruining a children’s party,” and even turned into targets of AI-generated images that depicted them as Black Pete to mock or intimidate them.

Local television also reflected the backlash. The program Al Caso invited Black Petes to appear as guests, presenting them as part of an old tradition that should be preserved. The episode mirrored how divided the community had become. The tension grew so intense that Aruba’s Public Prosecutor’s Office eventually issued a public flyer calling on residents to stop racist behavior.

In parliament, AVP legislator Otami Thomasia urged the government to intervene. She appealed to Finance Minister Geoffrey Wever to bring the issue to the Council of Ministers, arguing that Aruba must decide what kind of cultural legacy it wants to pass on to children and that Black Pete no longer fits this time. Wever agreed to raise the matter with his colleagues.

The backlash against Thomasia was immediate. She was attacked across Facebook and other platforms, and she too was turned into a Black Pete image in online posts. She said later that she had expected some anger but still found it painful to see how far people were willing to go in defense of what she calls a colonial tradition that harms children.

Another parliamentarian, Ruthlyn Lindor of Futuro, drew attention to international criticisms that have long surrounded Black Pete. A 2015 report from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination explicitly noted that deeply rooted traditions cannot justify racial stereotypes or discrimination. Lindor, who was present in Geneva when that committee examined the Kingdom’s practices, recalls how astonished other countries were that the Netherlands and its Caribbean parts still promoted the figure.

She describes Black Pete as “a black page in history” and says that the return of blackface during Aruba’s official entry feels like moving “a hundred steps back” after years of progress. Lindor points out that Aruban traditions have evolved before; the harvest celebration Dera Gay, once known for burying a live rooster, has already been adapted in many places so that a flag or doll is used instead. For her, the argument that traditions cannot change simply does not hold.

Both Lindor and Thomasia link the issue directly to children’s rights. They warn that Black children on the island are being mocked as “Black Pete,” made to feel ashamed of their dark skin, hair and lips, and pressured to see themselves as helpers rather than equals. In a society that also says it wants to tackle bullying and pay more attention to mental health, they argue, those experiences cannot be ignored.

Three weeks ago, Lindor formally asked the government to explain how the decision to bring back Black Petes was taken, who approved it, whether children’s dignity and protection from stereotyping were considered, and whether public money supported the event. She also requested clarity on how the move fits with Aruba’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international agreements. To date, neither she nor the Caribbean Network has received replies from the prime minister or the minister of education.

For the two parliamentarians, the way forward is clear. They want the government to adopt a consistent, inclusive approach so that every child can enjoy the Sinterklaas season without being reduced to a stereotype. Thomasia suggests that if a compromise is needed, helpers should appear without any racial markers at all, wearing only the colorful outfits associated with the role. “We need to protect children, not traditions,” she says.

As the Netherlands moves away from Black Pete and activists like Afriyie declare a partial victory in their campaign against blackface, Aruba’s experience shows how fragile such gains can be within the wider Kingdom. The same character that is steadily disappearing from Dutch city streets has returned to the center of a heated argument on one of its Caribbean islands, where questions about race, heritage and belonging remain very much alive.

Reporting in part by the Caribisch Netwerk.

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