Yeah, this happened! It's part of an annual Christmas tradition known as Zwarte Piet (aka Black Pete), who is lind of like Santa's helper. More on Wikipedia. and Boom Chicago made this video.
I'm going to be hosting a video chat on Vokle with some folks here in Amsterdam to talk about the tradition, Dutch reaction and just what the hell is going on!
Chat is over but you can see it above here or over at Vokle: http://www.vokle.com/events/38346-video-chat-with-baratunde-from-amsterdam
Guests will include
- Kirsten Van Den Hul, UN Women's Representative for The Netherlands. Also badass poet and writer
- Gregory Shapiro of Boom Chicago
- Michael OT of Boom Chicago
- me! of america! and black dudeness!
UPDATE
If you couldn't make it or just need to hear Tarik say the n-word a few more times, here's a link to the recording: http://www.vokle.com/events/38346-video-chat-with-baratunde-from-amsterdam