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A Dutch football fan has sparked a backlash on social media after dressing up as his childhood hero Ruud Gullit and wearing blackface make-up for the opening match of Euro 2024 in the Netherlands. But the fan has promised to put the costume away.
Bart van der Ven said he was “shocked” after a picture of him and two friends at the match against Poland went viral on social media.
He said Brabant Broadcasting He decided to drop the “Rastafari” persona after retweeting tweets condemning the group as racist, including Daily Mail.
Van der Ven, from Breda, said the reactions “made me think”, but he insisted he had no intention of causing offence. “Maybe I made a mistake or it was a blind spot. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt someone, so I decided to stop.”
Van der Ven said his costume, which included a vintage football shirt, a thick Afro wig, a fake beard and blackface, was a tribute to the midfielder who scored the opening goal in the 1988 final that sealed the Netherlands’ only international trophy.
‘Unpleasant associations’
“I’ve gotten a lot of good responses, but there’s obviously a group of people who have a different view,” he said. “I have to respect that and listen to them. The last thing I want is for people to have some unpleasant association with my performance.”
Dutch fans gave Hamburg many wonderful performances today. The lads’ tribute to Van Nistelrooy was perhaps a bit misjudged. pic.twitter.com/MdcSstiKaK
— Tariq Panja (@tariqpanja) June 16, 2024
Van der Ven wore the kit at the World Cup and European Championships between 2008 and 2014, but it has sat in his dressing box for the past 10 years.
But when Rastafarians reappeared, the world had been changed by a long and bitter dispute over Zwarte Piet, the helper who distributes gifts with Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) on December 5.
A decade ago, the character was usually played by a white actor in blackface, but after years of protests over its racist connotations, the children’s television show Sinterklaasjournaal and carnival-style parades in major towns introduced “Soot Peter,” with his face painted with soot.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Willem-Alexander Apology for the Netherlands’ slave trade pastIn recent years, although Rutte has admitted ‘Systemic racism’ is a problem.
Tolerance is challenged
Gullit himself called for an open discussion of racism in sport and society four years ago. “What makes me angry the most is people saying racism is not that bad,” he said. He told Ziggo Sports’ Rondo.
However, the player has yet to respond to requests for comment on the latest controversy.
Aspha Bijnaar, a sociologist and expert in colonial history at the University of Amsterdam, said many Dutch fans were annoyed by the suggestion that dressing their players as Ruud Gullit could be seen as racist.
“It’s easy to say, ‘You didn’t mean that,’ but when people do that, they ignore the impact of the intent,” She told RTL News.
arrogant
“We think the Netherlands is a tolerant country and we think we can say anything. This is a product of arrogance: ‘Who are they to say we can’t act according to our ‘traditions’?’”
Van der Ven said he plans to DJ at fan discos during Euro 2024 wearing a “Rasta Rude” outfit and donate his earnings to the Princess Maxima Centre Hospital, which specializes in treating childhood cancer.
“I performed purely for my own fun and wanted to raise money for charity as Rasta Rude during the European Championships,” he said. “That won’t happen now. If the fun is gone, it’s gone for me too.”
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