Catalyst Audio | Audio-documentary | Released Feb. 3, 2019
A national conversation about blackface has been spurred on in recent days by controversy surrounding Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. How do attitudes about this contentious practice differ elsewhere in the world? How might this shed light on our own country’s reckoning?
This week, Samantha Sanson puts a spotlight on the Dutch folklore character of Zwarte Piet, or Black Peter, who every winter inspires crowds across the Netherlands to don blackface in a popular tradition that is increasingly drawing international condemnation. Her documentary-short explores contrasting perspectives about the intersections of racism, culture, and tradition.
Photo courtesy of independent.co.uk/us