UN on Human Rights Investigates's Dutch Tradtion Of "Zwarte Piet" Perpetuates A Racist Of People Of African Descent

If you live in Europe you might really understand the need to scrape that tradition because it is an insult on black race. Everything good are termed to white while anything bad and incriminating goes to black race. " Zwarte piet" meaning "Black Pete" is a common character in the Netherlands where blacks are classified as second-class citizen, thereby terming them to be inferior.

  In a letter to the Dutch government in January, UN rapporteurs of the working group on people of African descent, as well as rapporteurs of human rights, cultural rights and racism wrote that they “received information” suggesting “the character and image of Black Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and people of African descent as second-class citizens, fostering an underlying sense of inferiority within Dutch society and stirring racial differences as well as racism”. The majority of people of African descent living in the Netherlands either come from the Netherlands Antilles or the former Dutch colony of Surinam.
The UN rapporteurs requested that the Dutch government respond to whether the allegations of racism were true and to what extent the government has involved Dutch people of African descent in discussions regarding the choice of Sinterklaas(father Christmas) and Zwarte Piet as expressions of cultural significance in the country.
The letter’s signatories also warned that if the Netherlands wished to have the Sinterklaas festival declared Immaterial Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, it should consult communities comprising Dutch people of African heritage. Apart from people of colour, a growing number of other residents in the Netherlands feel that Zwarte Piet is outdated, to say the least.

So the story goes As folklore goes, every year Sinterklaas, also known as Saint Nicolas, arrives to the Netherlands on a boat from Spain together with a great number of helpers. Each of them is known as a Zwarte Piet. In images as well as in the country-wide re-enactments of the event, they are depicted as black-faced men with big red lips and afro hair. On the third weekend in November, in most Dutch cities it is common for children to watch the celebrated arrival of Sinterklaas with his helpers.
The festivities include an invasion of the city by dozens, if not hundreds, of Zwarte Pieten, with Sinterklaas riding his white horse at the end of the parade. Like Santa Claus or Father Christmas, Sinterklaas is said to bring presents to children who have been well behaved. The Zwarte Pieten assist him with this by climbing down chimneys to deliver the presents in the weeks preceding Sinterklaas’ birthday on 6 December.
Some say that chimney soot is the reason Zwarte Piet’s face is black. Opponents, however, dismiss the explanation, saying it does not account for his lips or hair. According to them, it is a form of blackface, a historical practice in which white people would colour their skin dark and perform as stereotyped caricatures of black pete.
Do you really think this tradtion should be scraped? or is it a mere much exaggeration from blacks?