By Alex Rosaria

Every year in mid-November Sinterklaas (a Dutch version of Santa) arrives in towns all over The Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean, including Curaçao where I was born and live, to hand out gifts to children. He’s accompanied by scores of blackface helpers who wear gold jewelry and red lipstick to exaggerate the size of their lips. These characters are named Zwarte Piet, or “Black Pete”. During parades they dance wildly, throw candy around and yes, tell children who “have behaved badly” that they (the Petes) will put them (the children) in a large bag and take them to Spain. Most of the Petes have either a cane or a large burlap bag in their hands. From time to time the white old and wise Sinterklaas would ask the Petes to “tone down”. It’s very common to see children weep at the sight of these blackfaces. I did as a child.

  Confronted with recent outrage, the Dutch (the inventors of this tradition) tend to argue that Black Pete is a Dutch thing, and that outsiders don’t understand the Dutch culture. Wrong. Black Pete is an expression of numerous classic Western prejudices against black peoples that depict inferiority and the servant to the master attitude. Those who claim it’s a Dutch thing don’t know history. Well documented are the Blackface Minstrel entertainment shows in the USA that disappeared in the 1960s. Coincidently these Minstrel shows started about the same time as the Dutch Black Petes did in the 19^th century.

  When people say, (as they often do) “but it’s our tradition,” tell them: “so is racism.” The Dutch unwillingness to accept that its tradition is plainly racism has lots to do with its fear for much larger issues: rapidly changing demographics i.e. the “browning” of The Netherlands which is fueling Dutch extreme nationalist politics.

  What mostly baffles me, however, is why a large group in Curaçao – given our painful racial past – would want to hold on to this disturbing tradition. Often the same group who everyday complains about Dutch colonial behavior. Shouldn’t we know better than to hang on to something with racist undertones? It’s not a question whether this tradition (or elements of it) is racist but rather why we are denying the truth that it is. As a society, we need to take a hard look at ourselves.

  Alex David Rosaria (53) is a freelance consultant active in Asia and the Pacific. He is a former Member of Parliament, Minister of Economic Affairs, State Secretary of Finance and UN Implementation Officer in Africa and Central America. He’s from Curaçao and has an MBA from University of Iowa (USA).

Dear Editor,

  One more year has passed after Hurricane Irma and no sign of the Towers being able to open again.

  Towers management seems to be in the hands of Clarence Derby, an emissary of Mr. Ansary, the same person who controls the Ennia insurance company. This insurance company was supposed to have covered property damage but seems to be insolvent. Clearly no one is defending the interests of the timeshare owners who are in practice expropriated.

  Why haven’t the authorities stepped in?

  The only thing timeshare owners are now there for is to pay maintenance fees, for nothing in return.

  If they don’t pay, they could well lose their contractual rights to their share of the property.

  Ansary should be the one to lose his rights under the circumstances, not the timeshare owners.

  The representatives of Ansary, in particular the Towers’ senior management, should at minimum be sent packing, if not held responsible for mismanagement, to be substituted by government-appointed management, or a liquidator.

  The whole situation is unbecoming of an island state wishing to attract tourism. What a sorry plight!

Antonio Winspeare

Dear Editor,

  Situated possibly somewhere deep within our internal circuitry is a perennial tendency to be like others – to replicate their behaviour, attitudes, style, etc. When done consciously this way of conducting oneself could be considered copying and should not be confused with its opposite and reciprocal form mirroring. Unlike copying, mirroring requires no conscious effort and is constantly relegated to the realm of the unconscious.

  Our perpetual inclination toward this particular human characteristic of imitating has contributed to the preservation of cultures, values, customs, traditions and norms (for good or bad). Continuity of our complexity and different ways and modes of being are somewhat maintained by this propensity to simulate.

  As suggestive and suspect as this article is to there being a biological basis for behaviour, it’s not intended to invalidate the role of nurture in imitative human behaviour, consequently hurling the classical argument of nature versus nurture through the window. Both the fields of social and natural sciences have provided abounding theories, explanations and possible causes beyond the scope of this article that certainly aid and enhance our understanding as to why we are creatures infatuated with being other than ourselves.

  A credible source and authority on the concept of imitation is the Greek philosopher and thinker Aristotle. Aristotle’s system and train of thought on the idea of imitation bequeathed through the centuries is very much visible in the writings of contemporary thinkers and philosophers, supplying much needed intellectual fodder.

  One can reasonably argue that as an idea there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the concept of imitation, it is entirely natural and human which when expounded upon usually invites questions such as: what are the range of human conduct and behaviours that make for effective imitation? What are the consequences that make for a good life? And who gets to decide? How do we go about evaluating, measuring and selecting the actions and habits of others that enhance the quality of our lives when we have been reduced to ideas, concepts, numbers and statistics in the modern political arena.

  When the world is reduced to a series of signs and numbers standing in the place of raw flesh and blood, we are then processed through text and concepts that inhibit our ability to display and express our fundamental and shared humanness (the essence of what ought to be imitated).

  How do we champion healthy progressive behaviour when there is a lack of moral imagination that makes deeply ethical actions seem like crime. At the heart of the discussion on imitation is not primarily its existence or its internal mechanism but a conscious inventorisation of habits that promote and are conducive to flourishing human behaviors worthy of being emulated.

  One approach that can be adopted is that of the proverbial poet’s giant floating eyeball, hovering over Planet Earth covering and observing its physical and human landscapes. No judgements, just the poet’s pure description of what is.

  One may begin to see striking similarities between the two scenes, thriving human communities may be conspicuously characterized by particular values, attitudes and habits, while the surrounding physical geography and other forms of life may very well enjoy the values and habits espoused by their human counterparts resulting in a harmonious coexistence.

  How did we come to be the kind of people we are? We are not good at knowing who we are or why we are the way we are. We cannot say conclusively if there is a single overarching force dominating our very existence rendering us powerless to self-change. We don’t know whether we are consciously choosing to be the persons we aspire to be or there are forces outside of our control deluding us into believing we are the potters of our wheel. Our lives may very well not be the malleable piece of art we may think we have created and continue to shape.

  Empirically through and with the help of the two domains of science: social and natural, we continue to make progress, albeit errors. Ceaselessly we persevere with our inquiries into ways of being that we hope will provide us with the joys, pleasures and purposes for living inclusively. We cannot say definitively if such a project is realisable, but we can choose to continue to hope and strive to bring about behaviours, habits, conduct, values, ethics and norms that move us closer to our shared humanness.

Orlando Patterson

This letter concerns the project at the old BBW dock in Simpson Bay that has been under construction for some time now. The first stage of the project was done by a crew that lives on the site. Most of the crew, to my guess, are not even legally on the island, and they live in one building that isn’t quite livable.

  I never saw any of VROMI’s [Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] people come to inspect the project. As any project, there is supposed to be a public notice. I haven’t seen any of the environmental groups show any concerns about the project and how it’s being carried out.

  Just a few months ago, the Nature Foundation was talking about the same area being a protected area and part of a so-called marine park, but somehow the government managed to still sell the water rights to the Goya Group. Seems to me that once big money is involved and people with ties to government, they are allowed to do just about anything. I see other businesses opening up on the old Simpson Bay road that I thought was supposed to be residential.

  The road leading into the old Simpson Bay is being used by the workers that live on the side on one lane to repair cars. It has become a traffic hazard, and seeing that the building on the opposite side of the road constructed a wall so high that makes it a blind spot. When the wall was constructed, they just pulled out the “one way” sign and dumped it. I have seen many close calls and a few accidents on the corner.

  Government took all the land on the lagoon side without considering the Simpson Bay people having an area to put their boats. The land was sold for big money or used by politicians themselves or just fronted by others and the last little piece of land that is left on the corner of the runway can hardly hold one boat and a trailer. They can give it to a vendor not even from Simpson Bay to sell his (whatever). They could have given him an area anywhere along the road, but still gave him the only piece that is used by everyone with a boat for that matter. Now the beach is taken away from the Simpson Bay fisherman, no place to keep their boats on either side now.

  I remember when I was trying to open up a little antique shop for my wife I had to go through so much to get a permit. A little plywood building 12x12, I needed to have every nail and electrical wire in perfect place and had to make sure she would hire a local. VROMI was there almost every day to inspect.

  Minister Wever good luck and if you are there long enough I hope you can make a little difference.

Allen Peterson