Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands: From Amsterdam to Zwarte Piet, the acclaimed guide to travel in Holland

by Ben Coates

‘I don’t hate Arab men – I even sleep with them,’ he said.

One Dutch MEP even once proposed that the government introduce a ban on banning things.

One UN study found that the Netherlands had become one of the world’s top destinations for trafficked women; another investigation identified ‘serious abuses such as trafficking in women, prostitution involving girls under the age of consent and forced prostitution’.

In the case of the Zwarte Piet tradition, significant change looked very unlikely. Most Dutch remained defiantly proud of their love of blackface, and were sticking to the ‘We don’t think it’s racist, so it can’t be racist’