After long defending the character of 'Black Pete' and even admitting to painting his own face black in the past, the Netherlands' prime minister in June said societal pressure would soon force the character to retire.
, who leads an Amsterdam-based advocacy organization called Kick Out Zwarte Piet, Rutte's words were long overdue. Getting others to understand Black Pete as racist has been his mission for a decade.
Still, Afriyie is committed to dialogue. Every Sinterklaas season, he leaves his home in Amsterdam and travels to Dutch cities and towns where Black Pete is still publicly celebrated to try to build consensus on admitting that Black Pete is racist.Last year, committees in several Dutch cities agreed that Black Pete should not appear in their city's Sinterklaas parades, but more than a dozen smaller towns affirmed the opposite: Black Pete would be welcome in their parades and school plays.
Former Prime Minister Wim Kok used his polder consensus-building skills to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001, making the Netherlands the first country in the world to do so. "What the country tells you is 'Try to unsee it,'"Afriyie says."Like what you are seeing is not true."
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