Het last letter of the Dutch alfabet is Z, pronounced as
Every year as soon as Sinterklaas enters the Netherlands, the ‘zwartepietendiscussie’ starts again. It is a discussion about the black helpers of Sinterklaas (zwarte pieten). For many years ‘zwarte piet’ was part of Sinterklaas, just like the presents, poems and pepernoten. This changed a couple of years ago when some people saw a relationship between ‘zwarte piet’ and slavery and mentioned that the look of the ‘zwarte piet’ should be changed. Since then there is a big discussion between people who think that ‘zwarte piet’ is a part of the Dutch tradition and should be preserved and people who see a clear relationship with slavery.
What do you think about ‘zwarte piet’?
