Black Pete is actually Saint Nicholas’ assistant and is usually played by a white person with a blackened face, red lips and an afro wig. The racial debate about the controversy of the character isn’t new – it’s been going on for years. There are many explanations for why Black Pete is in fact black, one of the most popular ones being because he was covered in soot from coming down the chimney. The reason for his large red lips, however, remains unexplained.
Last year nearly one-eighth of the entire Dutch population used a Facebook petition to keep Black Petes' image unchanged. This year,the mayor of the Dutch cheese capital Gouda came up with a compromise in order to appease the critics, and introduced other coloured Petes — "Cheese Petes" with yellow faces, "Stroopwafel Petes" with striped, light brown faces resembling the traditional Dutch syrup biscuit and a white-faced "Clown Pete".
This PC move didn't really help – in fact, it seemed to anger many, as police arrested dozens who were protesting for and against Black Pete after they clashed at the traditional Dutch festival for children.
There is meanwhile an alternative Black Santa, established by the Black Panther society in 1969. He is an ignorant person who breaks into your house, eats all of your fried chicken, drinks all of your alcohol and steals all your Christmas presents under the tree. He mostly resides at the "Black Santa Workshop". The workshop is comprised of himself, his wife Mrs. Klawz, and a legion of crack whore prostitutes dressed as elves.
However, Holland is far from being the only country with strange holiday traditions. There are many weird traditions around the world, too. Yule lads, or Yulemen in Iceland are known for playing different, often quite weird, tricks. Gluggagaegir, for instance, looks for things to steal in people’s windows and goes to pick them at night. Stekkjastaur, is known for walking on peg legs and harassing sheep, again, for reasons unknown.
While Christians represent only 1% of the population in Japan, celebrating Christmas is still very popular. It’s often challenging for foreigners to find a place where they serve a whole chicken or turkey, so KFC has become a hard–to-get-to place during the festive time. The fast food chain even suggests booking places two months in advance. And the real action in Japan begins on New Year’s Eve. That’s when Hoeiosho, the fat Buddhist monk, arrives with a red-nosed reindeer. The benevolent monk also has eyes on the back of his head.
La Befana in Italy is a holiday vino-loving witch who should probably consider joining AA instead of traveling on a broomstick wearing a black shawl. The old lady leaves candies and figs for good children, and if you’ve been naughty, you’ll be stuck with onions, garlic or dark sweets made to look like coal (which is still better than actual coal).
Krampus, or the Christmas demon, is the dark assistant to Saint Nicholas in various parts of Central Europe. The beast plays bad cop to St. Nicks’s good cop. He spanks naughty children and threatens to throw them into the basket on his back. Krampus has actually mastered many forms of punishment. According to 1800s postcards, Krampus ripped pigtails out, put pre-teens in shackles, led children off a cliff, forced children to beg for mercy, drowned children to death in ink and fished out the corpse with a pitchfork and threw youngsters on an Express Train to The Lake of Fire. Social Services, what?
In the Venezuelan capital Caracas, church-goers roller-skate to Christmas mass. On the night before, children tie one string to their big toe and hang it out of the window so the passing skaters can give them a friendly tug. Cars are blocked from entering the city before 8 a.m. to free the ways for the roller-skaters.
The Dutch are supposed to be living in the one of most tolerant countries in the world, and Black Pete’s character and color continue to be debated. But when a tradition has been around for centuries, you don't just up and change it. As the country’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte said recently, “Black Pete is black. We cannot do much to change that”.
And they probably shouldn’t.
Happy Holidays!
