My Thoughts on the Ruling

The reason why I am against Zwarte Piet is not because it causes me pain, or negatively affects my self-esteem, I am against it because the figure of Zwarte Piet is, in fact, dehumanizing; it contests insidiously the humanity of Black folk. The court’s elaborate process to determine whether Zwarte Piet negatively affects Black folk, as well as its use of gingerly phrased language, gave me the impression that the severity of dehumanization is up for debate: “The court will determine, based on the documents in the case file, whether the figure of Zwarte Piet negatively stereotypes black people. If that is the case, the court will then assess whether the negative effect on black people is such that it constitutes a breach of privacy of the plaintiffs.” The court also issued a caveat, “However, not all negative stereotyping leads to an infringement of privacy. The effects of negative stereotyping must have a certain degree of severity.” The following shift in emphasis exposes the ridiculous tenor of the court’s statement: however, not all acts of dehumanization lead to an infringement of one’s humanity. The effects of dehumanization must have a certain degree of severity.

Egbert Alejandro Martina in My Thoughts on the Ruling (Processed life)