I came across this CNN video, Is This Dutch Holiday Character Racist? , that captures this very well. African-American filmmaker Roger Ross Williams is married to someone Dutch and he goes on a filmmaking discovery when he is in the Netherlands and you might think that the Dutch, often known for their liberal politics, would come off being more understanding about how this no longer is acceptable, but they prove to be rather, well…. racist, about it all.
These warm feelings that we have for this long history cloud our thinking. It’s a good window into our own deeply held racisms and well worth watching. The old Saint can survive quite well without Black Peter. That is part of the past that needs a sincere apology and now must be discarded.