To me 'B' as in Black stands for Brave, Bold & Beautiful. Translate this word into Dutch say: 'Zwart' I get a feeling 'Z' is equivalent to Zwak (weak) Ziek (sick) Zielig (pitiful). As a Dutch citizen living in the Netherlands since anno 2000, I've never, ever felt ZZZ as Zwart, but always BBB as Black.
With reference to the "Zwarte Piet" discussion here in The Netherlands, as COLORS publisher and a person of color, I guess I'm expected to have an opinion on the make-over of Piet. Last year, in my publisher's note Zwarte Piet and Sinterklaas my opinion was clear as to where I stand on the issue.
In the meantime, we're a year further and early this summer the discussion was heated.
Being a person of mixed races and colors, I empathize and respect those who feel the urge to give Piet a millennium make-over. Living with an inferiority complex as a result of slavery and racial discrimination for centuries runs deep and liberation of the mind and spirit might take as many generations as slavery lasted. In my perspective it's a matter of education, mutual respect and tolerance.
Piet 's outward appearance can use a make-over, and hopefully a few decades/centuries from now this discussion will be history. However, liberation of the mind and spirit starts from within oneself. Change the content of the mind, and the color of the skin will no longer be an issue.
"Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences." / Mikhail Gorbachev
