Zwarte Pit became a debate because it contains elements of racism and colonialism

Jop Euwijk and Frank Rensen in an article in Historiek provide some of the earliest examples of how Black Pit characters began to be seen as reflecting racism.

The first example is the incident in 1927. A black man on trial in Rotterdam defended himself that he beat a dockworker for verbal abuse. He also said black people in the Netherlands were constantly called "Black Pit".

Another incident occurred in 1939. At that time a black teacher was reprimanded by a student's parents when they were riding the same tram in the Sittard area. The reason was trivial: his son cried after seeing the Black Pit there.

Then, in 1956 a man of Surinamese descent told the newspaper de Telegraaf that young children were instructed by their mothers to call black people sitting on buses or trams “Black Pit”.

Zwarte Pit, or black pit is a helper for grandfather Sinterklaas/Santa Clous to go around distributing gifts. If called "Santa Clous" usually assisted by the "dwarves". But if the grandfather is called sinterklaas, then his assistant is Black Pit, a character who likes to be funny, with short, black, curly stature, sometimes acting like a clown.
It is this black figure who is widely debated and protested by some Christians, because it symbolizes racism and colonialism, superiors and subordinates, masters and slaves.

Climate and environmental activists Extinction Rebellion once protested, they put up a flag that read "The Black Pit is racism—apart from colonialism" on the mast of a replica of the VOC ship at the Maritime Museum, a site they consider "a symbol of the colonial past." This action is a form of their solidarity with “Zwarte Pit is Racism”, the anti-Black Pit movement that started a decade ago.

Although on the other hand, there are still camps that want to defend the Black Pit because it has become part of a tradition that has no bad or harmful intentions, and is just a tradition and entertainment, especially for children.

But the voices of cons continue to resonate, the Black Pit is considered a symbol of racism and Dutch colonialism that no longer deserves to be defended. Some argue that the Black Pit reflects racist stereotypes about black people: they have low dignity because they want to be ruled, and behave in a silly and stupid way. In addition, the character is seen as representing a dark episode of colonialism, when the Dutch took part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, including colonizing Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean region.

According to a survey conducted by the national news program EenVandaag released last November, 56 percent of the 32,000 respondents still want to keep the Black Pit as it is, while only 32 percent want the Black Pit appearance to be changed. Despite being in favor of more, the trend to retain the Black Pit character tends to decline from year to year. In 2013, his supporters reached 89 percent, while those against him were only 5 percent.

Source: tirto.id - Social Culture