Thursday, December 05, 2024

"We hate black people. That's why we demand Black Pete stays black!"

Ah, Krampus! 

Now, thère's a fun tradition! And the inspiration for Zwarte Piet punishing naughty kids. The character just started out as a single 'Moor' (18th century lingo for any people born in North Africa and other 'arabian' countries). Basically invented by Jan Schenk, teacher and writer of children's books. Also responsible for most 'Sinterklaas' songs. 

Only stupid people think that traditionally traditions don't change. But of course they do. Always. For instance: the tradition of Sinterklaas evolved into this thing Americans call 'Santa Claus'. 'Centuries ago!' in the 1950s.

Here's the evolution of 'Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet' over the [millennia] [centuries] decades. No, it's not a hundreds of years old tradition. Only wappies think so.  



Since r4cists got their way less, this has become the most common image:
And who knows what the future holds? 

After all: Sinterklaas was a bishop, born in Myra, in nowadays Turkey. So his skin colour was most likely not 'white'. 

Without Jan Schenk, Saint Nicholas would still pass people's houses with a develish figure (hello, Krampus!) to scare the living daylight out of children, spanking the lady of the house by hitting her on the bare bum with his rod or 'roede' in Dutch. Which is old Dutch not only for 'staff' but also for a part of the male anatomy. 

Before I rave on: now you know why many Dutch children born in September in the late Middle Ages looked a lot like Father Pastor. 

By the way: here's the Saint Nicholas church in Amsterdam. 

Fun fact: the inspiration for Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas, was patron saint of children, sailors, the city of Amsterdam and sexworkers. For older people: it's how prostitutes are now addressed.

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