180 degrees

Operation Market Garden was planned as something of an Allied shortcut into Germany in late-1944. The theory went that, with all going well, Berlin would fall by Christmas and that would be the end of that. But things rarely go well in war. The British failure to capture the bridge too far at Arnhem was in contrast with the momentum of the war in Europe.

In Arnhem, fighting between British and Polish paratroops and Germans, often house to house, decimated the city. Today, you can walk through now affluent Oosterbeek, near where the British landed on their way to Arnhem’s bridge, and read plaques about tank battles that occurred in the quiet residential streets where you stand. Sixty years seems eerily not so long ago.

But Arnhem also offered a different surprise - a parade to welcome the arrival of Sinterklaas and his “helper” Zwarte Piet or, alternatively in English, the very Dutch legend of Saint Nicholas (ie, Santa Claus) and Black Pete. In 2011, Holland is known for many things other than World War two battle sites. There are canals, windmills, football,and a liberal attitude to social issues like prostitution and drugs. Then, alas, there is Black Pete.

The legend tells how each year at this time Sant Nick and his helper arrive in Holland by boat from their home in Spain (who knew Santa lived in Spain? The Dutch!). Towns hold processions through their streets heralding the arrival of Santa and his helpers in anticipation of St Nicholas day on December 5 when Dutch kids get their presents. While as in other countries Santa wears a big red jacket and white beard, people dressed as Black Petes wear blackface, afro-hair, and big red lips.

This clip includes interviews with several Dutch about Black Pete.

Depending on who you ask, Pete is black from soot after dropping down too many chimneys or he is a Moor or an African slave. Some Dutch shrug and say his portrayal is tradition. Others shake their heads in embarrassment at institutionalised racism that manifests itself not just in grown men blacked up walking the streets but all manner of commercial exploitation of Pete’s image. For the past week, supermarkets shelves have been stacked with Pete cookies and posters promoting seasonal sales.

Americans visiting Holland have been known to experience extreme culture shock when first meeting Black Pete. Blackface in the United States has been thankfully consigned to the Department of Historical Bad Ideas.

Australia, like Holland, has its own perspective as musician Harry Connick Jr discovered a few years ago when he encountered the phenomena on Aussie television show Hey Hey It’s Saturday. A group of doctors performed on the program wearing blackface earning Australia the description of the “land that time forgot”.

Is Blackface racist? Perhaps not intentionally. And that’s the point. “When I was a kid growing up I always thought of black people as scary and from another world,” said a Dutch person who had explained the folk tale to me earlier in the week.

That, perhaps, is your answer.