The article I read was addressing a national holiday in the Netherlands that involves people dressing up in costume and wearing blackface paint. When Americans responded with distaste, the Dutch argued that it is a children's holiday where they celebrate the Moorish helper of Sinterklaas, Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet is a character from a children's book popular in the 19th century. The Dutch insist that the costumes and blackface were never meant to degrade but it is a traditional celebration of the character. Many American speculators have written the occurrence off as simply Dutch innocence, but there are others who take it as ignorant racism.
Blackface, in American history, was practically centered in racism. Minstrels were little shows put on where the African American people were depicted by white men in black makeup, as happy and dumb all of the time. The show were demeaning and wildly racist. Worse yet, the shows became massively popular and were know throughout the country for a long while. Nowadays, blackface is strongly frowned upon, and roles that were previously played by white people in black face, such as Othello, are played by black people.
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