Netherlands, Dokkum, 18 november 2017

Children dressed up as Black Pete at the celebration of the national arrival of Sint-Nicolaas - Sinterklaas. A United Nations committee has urged the Netherlands to get rid of Black Pete, a popular children’s character who has long been portrayed in early winter by white people in blackface makeup, usually with exaggerated red lips and gold hoops in his ears. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urges the Netherlands to stop portrayals of Black Pete: “the character of Black Pete is sometimes portrayed in a manner that reflects negative stereotypes of people of African descent and is experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery.” In Amsterdam the Black Pete is abolished. Each year there are demonstrations to get rid of Black Pete as well as demonstrations pro-Black Pete.