Dutch Rightist paper compares Mandela to blackface character

This video says about itself:

South Africans Celebrate Nelson Mandela‘s Life

6 Dec 2013

South Africans marked the passing of Nelson Mandela by singing, dancing and laying flowers outside the family home in Johannesburg on Friday.

From Associated Press today:

Dutch paper sorry for ‘tasteless’ Mandela article

December 6, 2013 at 7:00 AM

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The top-selling Dutch newspaper has apologized for a story on its website that linked the death of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela with a controversial black-face character in the traditional Dutch celebration of Sinterklaas.

In the opening sentence of an article collating reactions to Mandela‘s death, De Telegraaf said Friday that Mandela “died (with Black Pete) on Sinterklaas evening.”

Black Pete is the helper of Saint Nicholas, known in the Netherlands as Sinterklaas, who brings children gifts on Dec. 5. Black Pete traditionally is portrayed by people in black-face makeup.

The character has been the focus of a fierce debate in the Netherlands recently between fans of the Sinterklaas tradition and opponents who call Black Pete a racist throwback.

The Telegraaf blamed the “tasteless link” on “an unfortunate convergence of circumstances.”

The Telegraaf is a Rightist paper. During the occupation of the Netherlands by nazi Germany, 1940-1945, they supported Hitler’s persecution of Jews. More recently, they propagated Islamophobia.