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Santa from Spain?
Traditions and festivities are an integral aspect of any culture, but do they have a right to disregard all others?
Santa Claus does not have to make his way all around the world in one night, he doesn't have to be a jovial old man from the North Pole with an affinity for chocolate chip cookies and milk as a midnight snack. He does not even have to climb down chimneys or ride in a sleigh led by reindeer. While in the United States these are standard behaviours of the Christmas figure, in other parts of the world Santa Claus, or rather Saint Nicholas as he is more commonly called, takes on a drastically different set of habits. In Northern Europe, particularly Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland he is a rather stern individual who is not consumed with bringing joy to children.
The cult created around Saint Nicholas in conjunction to the contemporary Christmas season stems back to 11th century Scandinavia, slowly but surely making its way throughout Christian Europe and beyond. With each passing century local distinctions reflecting the changes in Christianity changed the original tales of the Scandinavian Saint Nicholas, though some overlapping trends can be noticed. In Europe, Santa Claus is actually a Christian saint who during his life was the bishop of Myra and became the patron saint of children. He is also not associated with Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, instead he has his own day on the 5 or 6 December. It is then that he, dressed as a traditional bishop, comes to assess whether children have been good or bad, leaving the good children treats in their shoes or under their pillows.
Belgium and the Netherlands have a particularly problematic relationship with Saint Nicholas. Of course in other Northern traditions he may leave children with coal or roe when children have been bad, but the problem with Sinterklaas is not that he will take those on his naughty list with him back to the South. Sinterklaas, as it is celebrated in the two countries, brings forth sensitive questions of race that are completely overlooked by the majority of the local populations. Arriving most often by steamboat or train from Spain, he is accompanied by Zwarte Piet or Black Pete. Substituting for elves, these helpers handout sweets to children and dance in the parade welcoming Sinterklaas into a city. They are also where the question of appropriateness comes forth. In two countries with gruesome colonial pasts in the Congo and South Africa, using Zwarte Piet as a servant and entertainment figure is a sensitive issue. This is particularly the case when fair, blonde and blue-eyed Flemings or native Dutch paint their faces black, their lips red and don curly dark wigs as they jump around a white man.
Foreigners to the Flemish and Dutch cultures are left perplexed as to how the tradition can skirt by unnoticed, yet most locals will vehemently defend the roles of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. Underscoring that painting themselves as a minstrel style black face is in no way derogatory to those who are actually of African descent. In fact, an often heard argument is that the characters are created for children who in no way associate the Zwarte Piets with any negative attitudes. This may be true as, yet it is unlikely comfortable for a black individual who is approached in the early days of December with demands for candy from young ones. An answer of ‘No’ or ‘I don’t have any’ is unsurprisingly frowned upon by the little ones, much like giving apples to Trick or Treaters in the United States may very well earn a specific giver the honour of having his house covered in eggs the following year.
Explaining that Zwarte Piet is a jolly soul who just happens to be black from climbing down a chimney or working in the furnaces of the steamboat does not suffice when considering that the actual use of the character did not arise until the late 19th Century. It was then that the tale of Sinterklaas triumphing over evil Zwarte Piet, a name given to the devil in the Middle Ages, and subsequently putting him into slavery as his helper. The timeframe of the birth of this specific aspect of the holiday coincided with negative attitudes toward black Africans propagated with sympathies for the conflicts the Afrikaners were exposed to, as well as the colonisation of the Belgian Congo by King Leopold II. The subsequent apartheid many South African blacks associate with the Dutch and the grotesque treatment of the native population, particularly those who worked in the rubber trade and their families. In such a context of degradation and very clear segregation according to skin colour, the history of Sinterklaas is not just that of a holiday. It is deeply intertwined with the history of the countries themselves, reflecting if not widespread contemporary attitudes, certainly those of the past. It places a shadow on the belief that the Dutch are a liberal, accepting nation and confirms statistics that suggest Belgium is one of the most racist nations in Europe.
Neither are reasons for celebration and amidst denials of accusations bring forth the question, why does Zwarte Piet have to be black if it is not a matter of race?