THE NL BLACK PETE DISCUSSION

RELEVANCE & FRAMES DERIVED FROM THE DUTCH QUESTIONNAIRE

THE QUESTIONNAIRE

• Online available between April 30 and July 1, 2014

• Distributed through social media by partners of the Ezzev Foundation including the Royal Institute of the Tropics (KIT)

• Both moderate and more radical social media communities were targeted

• N=362

THE TOPICS

The questionnaire topics are related to the intense Dutch discussion on the representation of the fantasy persona of Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) during the Dutch Santaclaus celebrations:

• The relevance of the discussion

• The desirability of the current representation

• The level of understanding of the respondent for the reasoning and emotions of those pro and against the current representation

• The labeling by the respondent of those pro and against

• The necessity to end the discussion

FRAMEWORK

The framework for the questionnaire is the European project TALKING ABOUT TABOOS.

The project aims to find and apply country specific and common good practices with regards to dealing with instances of everyday exclusion. The resulting good practices will be published on a dedicated Internet platform.

RELEVANCE

Respondents were asked about the relevance of the discussion

Very irrelevant: 25.7%

Irrelevant: 13.0%

Neither relevant nor irrelevant: 14.6%

Relevant: 32.6%

Very relevant: 14.0%

DESIRABILITY OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

Very undesirable: 13.2%

Undesirable: 15.1%

Neither desirable nor undesirable: 30.3%

Desirable: 18.2%

Very desirable: 23.3%

LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING REASONING

Level of understanding the reasoning of those pro

Yes: 85.6%

No: 14.4%

Level of understanding the reasoning of those against

Yes: 73.0%

No: 27.0%

LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

Level of understanding the emotions of those pro

Yes: 82.2%

No: 17.8%

Level of understanding the emotions of those against

Yes: 72.9%

No: 27.1%

LABELING THOSE PRO (multiple options allowed)

• Racists: 6.3%

• Insensitive people: 13.2%

• Normal people: 57.0%

• Traditional people: 55.3%

• Real Dutch people: 15.2%

LABELING THOSE AGAINST (multiple options allowed)

• Foreigners: 10.9%

• Oversensitive people: 43.2%

• Normal people: 47.8%

• Modern people: 23.3%

• Anti-racists: 15.8%

IMPORTANT THAT THE DISCUSSION ENDS

• Yes: 68.2%

• No: 22.4%

• I don’t care: 11.3%

FRAMING (1)

The most common ways to frame the discussion are (in order of times mentioned):

• Normal people discussing with normal people – this viewpoint is most popular among those with a

positive, neutral, negative or very negative attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete

• Normal people discussing with oversensitive people – this viewpoint is most popular among those with a very positive, positive or neutral attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete

• Traditional people discussing with normal people - this viewpoint is most popular among those with a positive, neutral or negative attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete

• Traditional people discussing with oversensitive people - this viewpoint is most popular among those with a very positive, positive or neutral attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete

• Traditional people discussing with modern people - this viewpoint is most popular among those

with a neutral or negative attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete

FRAMING (2)

A far less common to frame the discussion is that normal people or insensitive people discuss with modern people – frames following the normal people with normal people framework in popularity among those with a very negative attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete.

FRAMING (SOURCE)

INTERPRETATION (1)

• The people pro see themselves as normal people or as traditional people

• Those against see those pro as traditional people or as normal people

The difference seems to lie in how traditions are valued.

• The people against see themselves as normal people or modern people

• Those pro see those against as oversensitive people or as normal people

INTERPRETATION (2)

The publicly most audible analysis by those with a very negative attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete is that this topic concerns racism. This resonates highly in the comments BUT hardly translates into dubbing people who support the current representation of Black Pete as racists (6.3% of the respondents does so).

This seems to implicate that while racism is seen as a cause of the current representation of Black Pete very few see conscious racism. Rather they see ignorance – as can also be derived from the comments – ignorance stemming from tradition.

INTERPRETATION (3)

The publicly most audible analysis by those with a very positive attitude towards the current representation of Black Pete is that the opponents are foreigners who are alien to indigenous Dutch culture and should not interfere.

Among a minority of the respondents this resonates in the comments and in the framing of opponents foreigners (10.9% of the respondents does so).

CONCLUSION

• 17.2% of the respondents side with one of the extremes that dominate the debate on Black Pete in Dutch media.

• The majority of the respondents expresses (more) moderate opinions and frames. This majority is hardly heard in Dutch media.

• Although moderate and more radical social media communities were targeted this questionnaire is not representative – nevertheless the questionnaire results might serve as a starting point for reflection.