A large majority of residents in Groningen reject the character’s inclusion in the Sinterklaas children’s holiday
For a large majority of the inhabitants of the city and province of Groningen, Sinterklaas can be celebrated equally well without the Zwarte Piet character’s inclusion (and the adjoined spectacle of white people covering their faces with black face paint, donning curly wigs, jesters outfits, and large fake lips).
This appears from a poll by Enigma Research: a representative survey commissioned by the Dagblad van het Noorden and the Leeuwarder Courant, the results of which were published on Saturday. As reported by the GIC.
The investigation shows that Zwarte Piet is losing ground throughout the North, and that fewer northerners are willing to defend the ‘tradition’ for Zwarte Piet. But seen from all over the North, half of the population still strongly supports Zwarte Piet.
However, there are large differences between the provinces: Frisians and Drents residents are much more likely to support Zwarte Piet than Groningers.
Of the Groningers, only a third supports Zwarte Piet. “After a referendum in Groningen, Piet would never be black again,” said the survey, which was conducted by a representative sample of 1040 northerners.
For more information about the history of Zwarte Piet, check out the Nederland Wordt Beter website.
Image: a ‘Kick out Zwarte Piet’ protest in The Hague in 2019. By Wikimedia user 1Veertje. License here.
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