Just to put things in perspective; a very small but vocal percentage of Dutch people are offended by the Black Pete character. The leader of this vocal minority, Quinsy Gario, is a failed artist and is most reknowned for being offended by everything and anything. His most famous spokesperson, Prem Radhakishun, who lived in the Netherlands his entire life and is well-known for stirring up shit whenever and however he can, never had a problem with Black Pete untill somewhere 2 years ago, when he was asked to become a spokesperson for the anti-Black Pete movement. Prem even dressed up as Black Pete on several occasions in his adult life, that's how offended he is by the character.
All this has nothing to do with whether the Black Pete character is or isn't offensive and racially stereotyping, but with a couple of people craving and seeking attention. Hell, part of the official complaint was that they were forced to leave the European Union after the Sinterklaas parade. How twisted are you?
Should the Black Pete character change into something less racially offensive? Definetly. Should it happen at gunpoint with a knife againt our collective throats because of a few people who need the attention? Hell no. Quinsy and his followers have never entered in debate on the subject, all they have done was yell, scream, threaten and be angry.
How hypocritical is Quinsy and his organisation against Black Pete? Very, considering they have no problem hiring a legal representative who's history consists of lies and fraud; Frank King. Mister King promotes himself as a immigration lawyer, claiming to help people migrate to The Netherlands. A noble and honorable field of work, except for the fact that he also provides false hope to people who have no chance of ever being allowed into The Netherlands, in order to receive his money, which he of course earns based on an hourly rate, not a flat fee.
tl;dr Quinsy Gario has hired a legal representative who's main source of income is scamming and frauding, with mainly African people as his victims.
Let's have this debate. I want Black Pete to change into something less racially profiled and something more generic. But not with Quinsy Gario at the table. Get people like Humberto Tan and Jurgen Raymann to explain and talk about what they feel and see when Black Pete is walking in the anual Sinterklaas parade. Get a real debate going, instead of this fear mongering hypocritical bullshit that serves nothing else but attention-seeking and polarizing the society.