The Flemish culture minister, Sven Gatz, has defended his decision to blacken his face for a costume after he was criticised as racist.
Gatz, a minister in the Flemish regional government of Geert Bourgeois, tweeted a picture of himself with his face painted black on Sunday with the message: “And we sing and we jump and we are so happy, because there are no naughty children.”
The picture was an attempt to dress up as “Zwarte Piet” – Black Pete – the sidekick to Santa Claus in the folklore of the Low Countries whose character has been subject to protests due to its racist elements.
En we zingen en we springen en we zijn zo blij, want er zijn geen stoute kinderen bij. pic.twitter.com/PmOrdZxi3p
— Sven Gatz (@svengatz) December 6, 2015
After receiving a barrage of criticism on social media, Gatz responded on Monday:
Engaged against racism all my (political) life. And now I'm an ordinary racist because I coloured my face dark. Come on. Love. Don't hate.
— Sven Gatz (@svengatz) December 7, 2015
But Wouter Van Bellingen, the director of Minority Forum, said the move was tasteless. He told the Flemish newspaper De Morgen: “Globally, there is criticism of the figure of Zwarte Piet. If you know that ... how can you post some pictures of yourself?”
Last year, the Amsterdam mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, said Pete’s appearance would be changed over several years from his black face to make him look like he has been merely covered with soot from going down chimneys to deliver presents.
In local tradition, Santa Claus – or Sinterklaas in Dutch – arrives on 5 December in the Netherlands and 6 December, Saint Nicholas’s Day, in Belgium, accompanied by numerous Black Petes who give gifts to children.
Opponents say he is a caricature of an African slave carried over from colonial times, usually portrayed by white people wearing blackface makeup, bold red lipstick and Afro wigs.
An Amsterdam court agreed with findings by a Dutch discrimination vetting board and a UN advisory panel that Black Pete’s look is offensive.
Earlier this year, the Belgian foreign minister, Didier Reynders, also drew criticism from minority groups for blackening his face during a charity rally in Brussels in which participants dress up in what they say are the clothes of 19th-century African noblemen.
