The Dutch Say No to PC and Win
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Last Saturday in Gouda, Holland, the police arrested as many as 90 people, the majority of whom were protesting against "Black Pete", part of a traditional pre-Christmas children's street party.
We don’t normally associate a Santa Claus celebration with police arrests, so this requires a little explanation.
Black Pete (Zwarte Piet in Dutch) is a blackface character in Dutch and Belgian folklore. He is the clownish helper of St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) in delivering presents to children.
In the Netherlands, the Sinterklaas festival lasts for weeks culminating on Saint Nicholas Day, 5 December, and starting with the arrival of St Nicholas in a Dutch city by boat with hundreds of jolly Black Petes, amusing kids and giving them treats.
It's great fun and a merry occasion for the Dutch, and considered by both children and adults as the highlight of the year.
This year it was the medieval city of Gouda that kicked off the festivities on 15 November, with the event broadcast live on Dutch national television.
Thousands of parents and children gathered in the city's market square.
Traditionally the crowds -- men, women and kids -- as well as the actors portraying the Black Petes coming off the ships, are white people with their faces painted black, frizzy hair, golden earrings, large red lips and gaudy medieval costumes.
It’s this that has been for some time the subject of acrimonious attacks from self-styled "anti-racism" activists.
They claim that Zwarte Piet is a racist stereotype, a throwback to the colonial era in a now diverse, multicultural Holland, a country that must be tolerant of everything except, it seems, its past, culture, traditions, and identity.
Leftist politicians have called for Black Pete to be abolished. ...
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