This election is control of the u. S. Senate and that really means control of this country the voters of georgia will determine which party runs every committee writes every piece of legislation controls every single taxpayer dollar. U. K. Media is reporting that the british cabinet will support Prime MinisterBoris Johnson over a no deal breaks it the u. K. And the e. U. s still at odds less than a month before the deadline to reach a deal talks are set to continue later on sunday in venezuela voters are choosing a new congress in an election boycotted by the opposition the u. S. E. U. And most latin american countries are calling the vote a sham that will enable president Maduro Zwilling socialist party to take over the last state body controlled by the opposition the u. S. Has recorded a Record Number of calls in 1000 infections for the 3rd day in a row nearly 230000 cases according to the Johns Hopkins university and the u. S. Has seen a major resurgence of the virus over the past months putting even more pressure on hospitals saudi arabias foreign minister says its allies involved in the blockade of qatar on boards to find a solution to the gulf crisis saudi arabia bahrain the u. A. E. And egypt imposed deadline see an advocate of qatar in june of 2017 a committee in the us has found that directive microwave radiation is the likely cause of an outbreak of a serious illnesses among american diplomats in cuba and china at least 2 dozen diplomats reported dizziness pressure and cognitive problems during a period of nearly 2 years from late 2016 the study didnt say however who was responsible but it did note that the former soviet union had done Previous Research into this type of injury those are the headlines sin side stories next. Inserts are to actually indigenous communities of origin to reclaim the Ancestral Lands and the culture is becoming increasingly violent talk to you to see her travels to the region to see why the book which people are rising up and asks is the reply to peaceful coexistence on aljazeera. A controversial dutch holiday tradition is under scrutiny once again black heat is a delight for some but its a racist symbol for others and they get a black lives not to protest is it time for this divisive figure this is inside story. Hello and welcome to the program im ron cowen many children and the netherlands have grown up with the image of black pete is a help a necklace their equivalent of santa claus but black pete is highly controversial thats because the figure is usually a white person wearing black face makeup with exaggerated lips and an afro wig the tradition dates back to the 19th century around the time of the global slave trite but people say the character is racist and has no place in modern does society some cities have replaced black pete with a compromise forget cold chimneypiece his face is covered in soot instead of fish and the kind of meat meat from they say its no longer appropriate to be completely covered with black makeup so were using suit and this is just because were going through dick cheney and youre not this year are you Senate Committee did ya need to see what he did you know im working from home with peter now theyre going to call me how he wanted to adapt in order to make it fun for everybody and keep everybody happy. They control the sea intensified earlier this year when black lives matter protests began in the netherlands. d and he black pete demonstrators often face supporters of the far right surveys suggest a majority of dutch people want to keep the character but Public Opinion is shifting some libraries recently removed childrens books that feature black pete Prime Minister who wants defended the tradition now says hes changing his attitudes as well. Marco was right to pete the moment i met little children with dark skin who told me they felt incredibly discriminated against because black pete is black thats the last thing you want at a sink Nicholas Party but on the other hand if the government were to decree that black piece is no longer allowed then a lot of people who love the tradition will react the tradition is changing over time in a few years time there will be hardly any black people expect. Lets introduce our guests michel s. A. s an activist at the anti black People Movement in kinshasa tracey by 10 c. A political scientist and activist focusing on gender and race and in london Patrick Vernon a cultural historian all morcombe to you all i want to begin in amsterdam with michel says michel this character black pete is effectively the helper of st nicholas he arrives some point in the 19th century as a helper to st nicholas into the netherlands at the same time theres a global slave trade happening these are all caricature of what some white people thought a black person might look like but then a grotesque caricature im sure but this is not just about a cute christmas tradition this is almost celebrating slavery isnt it. It is it is. The tradition was in fact that 850. Guarantee in our guy from around black history the black are graphs and here you can see. One of the 1st book in which it was introduced and it was introduced 13 years before the abolishment of slavery so that was a time in which people in europe in the netherlands look at black people as inferior beings so on that context this characterised created and thats why we protest against it but its not just about that anymore about the fact that the character was created from one space and time over the years its changed into a christmas tradition many people in the netherlands have grown up with this they dont see anything wrong with it so why is it now causing such controversy yeah absolutely as you said when this book was introduced it became very popular and it became the most popular tradition in the country more popular than christmas. And what youve seen the dutch context is that people believe that its an innocent tradition because a lot of people believe that there is no racist racism in the netherlands its innocent country racism happens in the us in south africa but not in so that makes it difficult to address the underlying legacy of slavery and colonialism however by criticizing the tradition weve been able to open up with the bad about both the tradition and the underlying issue of institutional racism but the Prime Minister is saying that actually youre moving politicking too fast you want to ban this tradition he says give it a few years the tradition will die naturally. Yeah but hes been hes been saying that for a long time and people have been criticizing this relationship is the 1930 s. On asking the question like how long more should we wait how much longer should we wait i think. When we talk about human rights when we talk about racism we shouldnt phase it out we should completely end it immediately so everybody can you know live in a respectable and way and in the way that you know people are treated equally lets bring in Patrick Vernon head and london patrick when you and i were growing up in the u. K. There was a very famous figure whos actually called the goalie what he was a caricature of a black person that was used for commercial marketing practices on a brand of gem eventually that figure did go away when you and i became older and we started questioning it and there was a movement to try to get rid of that is it the same in the netherlands or just this is a much more cynical much more openly racist. Its very similar to because i mean you know lets face it one of the impacts alexis of enslavement in terms of transcendence left trade was a teeny human isolation of people of African Heritage whether in netherlands in the u. K. In the caribbean in north america south america. And so theres been a long tradition of of of using. Images of gollywogs using characters like minstrels using white people. Policies tend to be black that was very popular also in britain we had a well known t. V. Sit t. V. Show on the b. B. C. Called the black white minstrel show and that was prime time t. V. In the seventys and also your morris dancers in cold war who also locking up in the bin campaigns about that i still say its a basic basic principle the 1st principle is lives do not matter its easy to ridicule to make characters of black people and if you were to apply that to other communities people wouldnt tolerate thats really recognize and semitism. In europe we recognize that islamophobia but we do not recognize the blackness or afro phobia and i think its important that with some sounds. Be very tense here in kinshasa i saw you nodding your head there when you came to the idea that we do not recognize the idea of this you know blackness of people that we we actually do character caricature on this much more than say and the seventys a more islamophobia for example that examples that were brought up is that accurate stu you think. Well i think its accurate especially one people of african descent black people in belgium or even that event try to talk about black feet and said its racism a lot of people will say well what are these people saying they come here in their countries and they want to change a technician thats actually pointing out that people dont see us as belgian are native citizens of the net and then its and so yes of course its an issue we dont recognize the thing. That people that people african descent but ive seen in the boss years there has been some effort especially on iraq and a level to recognize these things by writing some resolution and other political statements so i think we are still not there where people recognize the being polite struggle and the structural reasons that people and people of african descent in all you are face but step by step were moving to the right direction lets assess and where you are right now when you talk to people about black paint and you say to them look i i dont know whether you are or arent racist i dont know you that well but let me just explain to you that the caricatural is racist to me to get a welcome reception. The people listen i have to say after saying the city of ems the numbers mean some progressive change but then as you know. That has been developed through struggle over the past 5 to 10 years theres been a lot of activism and there was a lot of recess since but in terms of them id say theres a level of respect and on the saying enough however outside of the big cities like him said rather nam a few weeks ago for example in the south of the netherlands there was a small protest and Peaceful Protesters against racism are ambushed by a few 100 all against an extreme right people so you see this gap between the city and the rest of the country so theres still a lot of work to do to be done but the work to be done needs to take into account tradition. Michel any to take into account that there is this tradition that has been going on since the 19th century and actually you know or maybe you are just spoiling christmas and all spoiling a festivity by this is what i mean the thing about traditions is that all traditions change culture trenches i mean it was a tradition that women were not allowed to fold it was also traditions and slave people. Their antisemitic traditions which have been abolished dont i think people should move forward and acknowledge that everything changes throughout time and can tracy bebo tense here is this the right fight to pick when you have shocked or all systemic racism where you have violence where you have people who are denied housing because of the color of their skin who are denied jobs because of the color of their skin is a christmas character a festive character really the fight we should be picking. First of all i think that black people can choose which fight they can pick no one has to tell us are the black people which i think and big 2nd of all people need to understand that living in whites in countries like belgium are not and theyll never know and face the racism is a traumatic experience so yes its a right to fight a bit because still a lot of kids have to be called black beats and when you know that everything that is black that are blackness often east associated with negative stereotypes black beat is one of them so its a fight in a bigger fight in a fight against Structural Racism in a fight against oppression systematic oppression of black people but its an important fight black people should feel free to celebrate the parties at they want and also they dont children especially children because at the end of the day its the children part if we change that beats the children will not hear its most of the time the adults because the problem but children will be all children will be very happy if the stereotypes surrounded that be changed and its a more credibly character for everyone given in london do you think this is the right side to pick. Agree with. The previous speaker you know people are fighting Different Levels some people are fighting on key issues round a stop and search and deaths in custody and some people fighting around Better Mental HealthCare Provision some people are fighting around housing some people fart around immigration and migration policy the interesting thing about the whole store front caricature its a National Narrative so when people talk about tradition and steeped in the story corps Structural Racism is part of the tradition so you might challenge stop and search but the Police Believe thats. Petes is acceptable therefore they will they will treat with disrespect you from they arrest them or when you are dealing with state officials they still look at you or the people there for i dont respect you its very clear in terms United Nations the corrections and chances are lost that the years the people of african descent have been traumatized through the history of slavery on modern day racism and part of the process is the colonizing traditions which reinforce our stereotypes so its black petes or minstrels or any film that keeps a negative connotation has to be acceptable this has not be tolerated and the and we need to get with this if we want serve in just a just and Inclusive Society missler sayers one of the things thats really changed over the last year or so is the black Live Matters Movement and it has introduced a consciousness good not just in europe globally as well has it had an impact on youll need mint on your on people understanding. Yes absolutely as i said before in the last contest of the boston years. Movement against what the. It was and the far from of the more and it grew from there and people to about a 1000 last year however this summer more than 50000 people showed up on the street saw that quite a large impact. Weve been up in fight the by the Prime Minister by the mayors of ems of them right there and several institutions to think about policy proposals to combat racism and to add to the other speakers i dont think you have to choose between one or the other and that does context hunting cause for belgium as well. The fight against black bead opens up space for a broader debate about other issues and examples of racism such as racial profiling labor market discrimination. Discrimination in education etc etc so it all. And stu the Broader Movement of progressive change the subject line and in london i just wanted to talk to you about how you change things legislatively through law through law making in the u. K. We have the Race Relations act its not perfect but a lot of people have suggested that it has changed things for the better for colored communities in the u. K. Do you think thats true do you think it is law making or is it culture that needs to change. Well when you support kl communities often its quite offensive when really is the top book and what you say in. Say that in britain theres been nearly 50 years of campaigning for race quota lets close in the 1st piece was in 1965 which was to stop discrimination people discriminates in and get an accommodation and then the men did stop discrimination and people didnt 11 markets and then it was a focus on Structural Racism in terms of Government Departments and local farted in other agencies and private businesses discriminates and so over the long history and tradition in the u. K. But those on it those changes how i want to come about through lobbying and campaign see need to lobby and the activists work with lawmakers and the politicians and concerned individuals as well i think weve lost matter just a touch not very briefly its a massive impact in britain so much so that a number of museums and institutions have now removed statues celebrating who people have benefited from the slave trade and this loan led to a National Debate in britain what is britain and whats history of the history because history should we condone all to be examined at least so i think its been an interesting but health the conversation that we have been we should have a should have a very long time ago to. Quantised much less ascendant evelyns some schools of voluntarily removing images of black paint some Television News organization Television Entertainment shows have already stopped using them but theres no legislative constitutional law making going on to try and stop this from happening is that part of your strategy is all to get laws changed. Yes absolutely since the beginning has been one of our goals and missions to. Lobby powers politicians more locally and actually to the philip legislation to. You know get rid of all kinds of racial stereotypes especially some of the big beat of course however unfortunately politicians have been you know not taking responsibility the Prime Minister for example has repeatedly said that its not his responsibility to