Last night on TV, I was introduced to one of the most racist tv shows I can think of ....and so many questions come to mind as I was just totally flabbergasted by this idea..that they even could put it on tv.
This show is called Groeten Terug (Greetings Back), and its on the SBS6 channel. They take these innocent people from the bush of Africa or jungles of SE Asia, who obviously don't live like us or even know about the ways of life and technology in the industrialized world, and they bring them to the Netherlands, and have them do some sort of 'normal' activity (what would be normal here in Holland I guess)...and then film it and show it on tv. Yesterday's episode had some people from Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia. I only saw the part with the people from Ethiopia. I couldn't even watch that whole part. There were 4 or 5 boys/men, and they stayed with a family, who then dressed them up as Zwarte Piets ('black petes') and then go to a school and toss candy to the teenagers for Sinter Klaas (St.Nick's Day). I have issues with Zwarte Piet to begin with. Usually the (white) Dutch paint themselves black and wear these sort of bright clown type costumes and have big red lips, big black afro wigs, a hat with a feather, and gold earrings. I'm told they're from Morocco..as Sint was on his way to Holland from Turkey? Sure. Sounds familiar...black people on boats with the Dutch. Hmmm...
Anyways, it was quite painful for me to watch these Ethiopians, who have never even experienced electricity before..be thrown into these costumes for the entertainment of the white dutch. I think they also paid a visit to the dentist. I felt really sorry for them, that they were being totally exploited but they don't even realize it.
I think those from Papua New Guinea had to join some driving school or something...what a wonderful, entertaining idea! NOT.
Who thought of this show to begin with? Did they think it really was a good idea? Did they think they'd get lots of viewers? And really...how did they manage to get visas (much less passports) to come to Holland...what was the reason..."entertainment show" ???? I mean, the Dutch government has been throwing thousands of asylum seekers out of this country for the past several years, and I have a hard enough time getting a residence permit! Plus, many native white Dutch people seem to have a problem with immigrants to begin with. But yet they 'ship in' several 'exotic' men, and they after they use them for their entertainment, they ship them back out again....and I'm sure these guys don't even know what they are getting themselves into when they board a plane for Amsterdam...who tricked them to begin with? How did they get them to come there? Its so wrong in all ways possible! I am still shocked that someone would even think of this to begin with, and then actually go through with producing it. What kind of country am I living in?
4 comments:
I happened to come across this post by accident whilst browsing through Technorati.
Although I'm not a fan of the show and never watch it (and I work for the station!), you've completely misunderstood the entire thing.
The Dutch families with whom these people are staying have stayed with these people in their own environment for a long time in the original series (Greetings from the Jungle), leaving behind everything they know and completely adopting the lifestyle of the tribes they were staying with. During which ofcourse the natives often had a lot of fun laughing at the stupid white people.
From that the idea of Greetings Back was born. Apparently the whole show has been recieved very well by critics (and has even been nominated for the Rose d'Or), because besides the "hilarious" situations (not my kind of humor thing either), it also showed the growing bond and understanding between the ordinary families from completely different cultures. Beside "hilarious" situations, it also shows what they have in common. These people haven't been tricked into anything, the knew more or less what to expect (they saw the culture shock happen to the Dutch families) and they are staying with people they consider friends.
And there most certainly is absolutely nothing racist about it. I don't know how long you've been in the Netherlands, but you should have figured out by now that although there may be serious tensions concerning certain ethnic minorities, people here are mostly colorblind and real racism is virtually nonexistent here. As somebody coming from a mixed family it seriously pisses me off every time Americans, coming from the most racist country in the western world, point the finger at others whilst they are the only ones making that kind of distinction. Unlike most white Americans, I don't see those Ethiopians as "black" people, just people.
A piece of advice: keep your racist prejudices to yourself, and try to see people as people.
Yawn. C, if your post is considered racist prejudice, then please do not keep it to yourself. Did they make the africans up as Zwarte Piets or not? If they did, how can anyone possibly defend that?
Thanks for finding my blog and leaving a comment, despite its hostile nature. I'm glad it got you so riled up. You are entitled to your opinions of course, but so am I. And its my blog too. I'm sharing my observations of living here, and to me, that show is quite on the side of whites in charge of the 'funny looking/dressing/talking/exotic simple people from the jungle'. And I'm not the only one, *gasp*, a Dutchie I was watching it with also thought the same thing and also refused to watch it. Sure, I come from a country that is extremely PC, but is that really that bad to be PC? I'm not pointing a finger just at the Dutch, I know the US has major problems still, but so do many other countries. But you can't deny the Dutch started the slave trade, and you can't deny the whole 'Black Piet' thing either. Its just how you perceive things, and we both see it differently, because you're on the inside and I'm on the outside, since I did not grow up here. And I didn't see Greetings from the Jungle, but I really don't want to see it, esp b/c of what I saw a few nights ago. I don't find that entertaining, or enlightening. Its not even a social experiement, its SBS6 making money. And I've lived here in Holland off and on for over the past 5 years, so I'm pretty informed on how the 'general Dutch public' works...and as and outsider, I can tell you that I don't think Dutch people are 'colorblind'..no one is. Maybe its just that for the most part, Dutch people act indifferent to everyone else and only share their opinions with their close friends. Perhaps its not like it is in the US, only b/c your population is a fraction of ours, thus your native non white population is also significantly less.
I will continue to make my observations and share them with others. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. There's a lot worse stuff out there. And if I'm a racist, then there are some serious misunderstandings on your part, because you don't even know me. I will continue to see people as people...and I will call them as I see them...and I will see you as passive agressive, since you posted as anonymous and blocked your profile, so I can't even read what you're about.
SBS6...... A very high regarded TV station (among WT, y'all know what I'm saying). SBS6 tries just to enricht Dutch people life (who are totally not racist, get a life please you farger) with information on how other people live (right..) More serious: this TV program must remind us about 19th century freak exhibitions. These events would show us exotic people as well. Very amusing for the white observers: look at this person, with this strange skin colour, strange behaviour.....are you sure it's human. But the good news is: we as white people are so above their level. In fact, wouldn't it be a good idea to go over there and culturalize them, so that they can be as happy as we (WHITE MEN'S BURDEN).
In fact I know for sure that SBS6 didn't intend anything you wrote C. In fact, SBS6 would broadcast many other informative and quality programs (question is, when are they recognized as quality...). A very nice example of such a program was a program called: 'Probleemwijken' in which SBS6 (or at least the producer who sold the program to SBS6) showed an anthropologic study of neighbourhoods that, well let's put it friendly, are 'different'. Our quality journalist would do in-depth interviews with local residents and show an objective picture of the area............NOT.
But of course this was all based on high moral standards, we just try to show what is going on in these hoods (oh did we tell you that we give the residents first a lot of beer so they act at least in a way we find fashionable).
A. you gotta be . . . . . . . .
Racism not apparent in the Netherlands, in which cave do you live? The perception of many immigrants (western and non-western) is different than your observation. And I have came to understand that outsiders can sometimes have a better sight of a society than the actual residents themselves. So you are from a mixed family: WTF does that mean: that your mom or dad is not human or what? And if you mean: one of your parents is born abroad, why do you have to point that out? All in all, YOU supposedly only see people as people? Why then making that differentiation. Probably HSDO?
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