Monday 5 December

 As a cold snap starts, my thoughts briefly turn to the festival of St Nicholas. Observed in parts of Europe, latterly (as I mentioned in a blogpost in November) become tainted by zealous political correctness regarding skincolour. It really needs to be rethought. Where did the innocent fun go that I remember from my young years? Anyway, happy Sinterklaas if you're having a prezzie party tonight.

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #27

Over on the continent, there is a tradition surrounding St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and children. In the Netherlands, the Bishop of Myra (modern day Smyrna in Turkey) arrives by steamboat from Spain, riding a white charger and accompanied by black-faced serfs, also known as Black Peters. They scatter candy and presents. St Nicholas is rumoured to ride the apexes of the roofs, dropping presents down chimneys. In turn, he collects a carrot for the horse, that children leave out in their shoe, set by the fireplace. Black Peter reputedly descends the chimney to leave the present and collect the carrot. Children who have been bad are warned that they will be carried back to Spain and given the rod, as carried by Black Peter. 

The historical background is slightly warped; as I wrote, St Nicholas lived and died in Myra. After his death, and upon the advent of Islam, his bones were disinterred and spirited across the Mediterranean to Spain. At the time, Spain was occupied by the Moors, a dark-skinned people from North Africa. 

This was an innocent tradition when I was a child, and once at a certain age, you were told that St Nicholas and Black Peter was a fable, a bit of fun and a foil for giving presents to each other. You'd be asked to draw a name from a hat and obtain a present for the person concerned. This would be accompanied by a poem, usually in inexecrable rhyme, highlighting the recipient's misdeeds and misfortunes of the year gone by. 

Over the last few years it has become increasingly tainted, and I am now of the opinion that it should be abolished altogether. The reason is that people no longer see that it's just a bit of fun, and is not discriminatory against people with dark skin, or favouring slavery or serfdom. There are protest movements, rallies that turn violent and groups travelling across the country to stop the Grand Entrance of Sinterklaas. 

It is bad enough that Santa Claus (St Nicholas' alter ego) has crept into the commercial side of December in the Netherlands. But violent protests debase the concept of it being a bit of fun for the children. That's the tradition killed off, in the name of political correctness.

Ed Balls in Euroland

Former Labour politician Ed Balls is currently (late January 2020) running a series of programmes on BBC TV about the rise of nationalism in EU memberstates. He starts in the Netherlands, and covers the increase in feelings of national pride, the rise of the likes of Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet (where is my bidet, sorry, baudet, sorry, bucket) - and the Zwarte Piet debate.

I have tweeted Ed to voice my feelings on the issue, and will copy the tweets below

Interesting take on the Netherlands. I'm Dutch, have lived in the UK since 1997. I'm familiar with the rise of nationalism in NL. Geert Wilders, to my mind, is a disgrace to NL. The Zwarte Piet debate is offensive to me. I was a child in the 1970s, and Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet were innocent childplay, something that adults indulged their kids in during the dark months of Nov and Dec. Nothing racist about it. The cultural background places Sinterklaas in Spain which was occupied by black North Africans in the 8th century AD. Zwarte Piet is portrayed as a serf, but only jocularly so. This is something that people who never grew up in Holland just not get, and I'm sorry, neither have you. This daft debate has spoiled the tradition.

Please note that the programme can only be viewed in the UK for a limited period of time.

Thursday 5 December

Today is December 5th, when those so inclined celebrate Sinterklaas / St Nicholas. The original Santa 😉. Over in Holland, Belgium and Germany, kids will be visited by Sinterklaas (the bishop of Myra, having come in from Spain) and regaled with sweeties and prezzies. This evening, Sinterklaas will go riding along the rooftops on his white charger, dropping presents down the chimneys. In return the kids will have put a shoe by the fireside with a carrot for the horse. Sinterklaas is accompanied by Black Peter (a figure of controversy in latter years). However, there is nothing racist about Zwarte Piet. Sinterklaas was St Nicholas, the bishop of Myra (Smyrna) in modern-day Turkey. When the Muselmen came, his bones were spirited away across the Mediterranean to Spain, and that's where
Sinterklaas is now said to come from. This landmass was occupied by the Moors from North Africa during the 8th century, as far north as Poitiers in France. The Moors were swarthy if not black. Although Black Peter is denoted as a servant (which might derogate him to the N-word), I have never seen anything racist in the exercise. Wish people in Holland would come to their senses and just celebrate an innocent children's festival.

Much better (sorry) than the commercial extravaganza that Christmas has become.I'm sorry, but my upbringing has put Christmas as a firmly religious occasion, during which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, the Three Kings came along with gifts to the newborn King, but does that really mean we have to splash out lavishly on our loved ones - so close after Black Fortnight?