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"Any idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!".
Thank you Angelo, it is really good to be able to learn other people's customs directly, rather than from articles on the 'net.Which is BS. Black Pete is not the SLAVE of Sinterklaas, he is his HELPER. And contrary to what I´ve read in American press about him, he is NOT made fun of, he does NOT have to talk dumb and with an accent, he does NOT have to act like a fool. He is the one that hands out the candy, and the one that climbs the rooftops to put the gifts in the children´s shoes (Because Sinterklaas is too old for that himself). There are several shows and movies around Sinterklaas and Black Petes (He brings a whole 'army' of them), and they are never made fun of or belittled. Children LOVE him. They are a bit scared of Sinterklaas himself, being the big old man with his beard sitting on his white horse, but they aaaaallll love Pete, who is in the crowd handing out candy, performing acrobatics, shaking children's hands, taking pictures with them...
Also, I read in an article that Sinterklaas is our alternative santa claus. He is NOT. We celebrate Sinterklaas on dec 5th, and christmas, WITH SANTA CLAUS, on dec 24th/25th like everybody else. If anything, Santa claus evolved from our Sinterklaas, the similarities are there (Red clothing, gifts down the chimney, lots of helpers, has his own special animal (White horse/reindeer), both saints (Sint nicolaas, Saint Claus) but he is older than Saint Nick. I think, when Coca Cola needed a holiday to promote their merchandise, they took our Sinterklaas (A lot of early americans were Dutch, after all) and transformed him into their own 'saint'. Even their names sound alike: Sin-ter-klaas / san-ta-claus.
Here is a shot for those who don't know Sinterklaas.
Here is a link to a video of the politician apologizing. He is almost crying, for cripes sake. It goes to show how a tradition can be perceived as offensive
We have the mummers in Newfoundland Neesy. I am just waiting to hear them find fault with that.
Angelo, I'm Catholic, and I have a book that tells about Black Peter so: When Nicholas was imprisoned, in an attempt to get him to forsake his religion, the prisoners were forced to do hard labour (I think it was mining). Nicholas was also tortured by his captors, and one of his tortures was that spikes were driven through his thighs, making it difficult for him to walk at times. 'Peter' was a fellow prisoner, likely Ethiopian, who carried the future saint around when he couldn't walk. He converted to Christianity, continued as Nicholas' helper once they were out of prison, and was even with him at the council of Nicea (where the church leaders developed the Nicene Creed). Peter was certainly NOT a slave.Which is BS. Black Pete is not the SLAVE of Sinterklaas, he is his HELPER. And contrary to what I´ve read in American press about him, he is NOT made fun of, he does NOT have to talk dumb and with an accent, he does NOT have to act like a fool. He is the one that hands out the candy, and the one that climbs the rooftops to put the gifts in the children´s shoes (Because Sinterklaas is too old for that himself). There are several shows and movies around Sinterklaas and Black Petes (He brings a whole 'army' of them), and they are never made fun of or belittled. Children LOVE him. They are a bit scared of Sinterklaas himself, being the big old man with his beard sitting on his white horse, but they aaaaallll love Pete, who is in the crowd handing out candy, performing acrobatics, shaking children's hands, taking pictures with them...
Also, I read in an article that Sinterklaas is our alternative santa claus. He is NOT. We celebrate Sinterklaas on dec 5th, and christmas, WITH SANTA CLAUS, on dec 24th/25th like everybody else. If anything, Santa claus evolved from our Sinterklaas, the similarities are there (Red clothing, gifts down the chimney, lots of helpers, has his own special animal (White horse/reindeer), both saints (Sint nicolaas, Saint Claus) but he is older than Saint Nick. I think, when Coca Cola needed a holiday to promote their merchandise, they took our Sinterklaas (A lot of early americans were Dutch, after all) and transformed him into their own 'saint'. Even their names sound alike: Sin-ter-klaas / san-ta-claus.
Here is a shot for those who don't know Sinterklaas.
