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It is the 5th of December. In Holland we celebrate the “birthday” of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas).  The tradition of Santa Claus and Sinterklaas are actually the same. An old white bearded jolly old man who comes during winter time to bring presents to all the good children. The difference is that the Dutch see Sinterklaas separate from Christmas, though…

It’s a tradition that has gone on for centuries. Every year about two weeks before Sinterklaas’ birthday, “his boat” arrives from Spain (as the legend tells us) and stops at the harbor of any given small and big town in this country. And he doesn’t travel alone – he has his horse Schimmel (“Fungus”) and the zwarte pieten (black Peters) with him too! For he will celebrate his birthday with all the good kids, handing out gifts and candy like the jolly old man he is. But if you’ve been a bad kid, Sinterklaas and his crew will put you in a bag and take you to Spain.

All the little kids wait with anticipation to see the “Jolly Old Man” and his crew arrive.. It’s a really big thing here. Until the 5th of December, kids get to place their shoe at a fireplace or a window, along with a carrot for Sinterklaas’ horse and a little poem or letter. In exchange for the poem or letter and the carrot, the kids receive a small present or some chocolates. And on the 5th of December, his “actual birthday”, Sinterklaas and his crew comes to each house personally to pay the kids a visit and give presents.

We were all raised to believe in the existence of this supposed jolly old man and his black crew. For me this tradition worked out a little different…

As a kid I was teased a lot for the fact that I have a white dad and a black mom. So kids at school joked how I was raised by Sinterklaas and a black Pete… Kids can be so nice to one another, can’t they?

So for me, Sinterklaas doesn’t bring any good vibes. Of course the presents and candy made up for a whole lot. But ,when people joke about your racial background somehow things just taste bitter.

I’m able to laugh about it, we (my family) all are. I can even make jokes about it, because I learned to make jokes about it as a kid. There’s no use in crying when kids tell you you’re the product of Sinterklaas and zwarte piet… Kids’ll just laugh harder. My solution then? A good punch in the face always made me feel better, and then telling them; “I’ll tell Sinterklaas you’ve been a bad kid so he can take you to Spain in a bag!”. Aaah, memories… Fun times!

Anyway… Drifting off…

So after all of that, you discover that the black men who surround this jolly old man in a red dress aren’t black by themselves; they have black paint on their faces instead. And the jolly old man with the red dress is a random neighbor or even your own uncle, with a fake white beard. The presents were bought by your own parents. And they have all been lying to you about what Sinterklaas is all about from the very beginning, just to shut you up and act nice and good (because otherwise you’ll be taken to Spain). This whole thing just teaches kids that it’s ok to lie! What a load of horse shit this is..

I don’t mind traditions. Somewhere there is something very nostalgic and interesting even about Sinterklaas. The true history behind the story is infact that it was just a good old bishop from Turkye who gave everything he had to poor homeless children. So the true story behind it is indeed nice, something worth to keep as a tradition in a proper way.

So I don’t mind traditions, but I do mind that the white men paint their faces black. What for? We don’t have to celebrate the fact that there were black slaves back then! It’s a disgrace and something no white person would ever truly understand; but to see a white person paint their face black and pretend to be a black clown (why do they imitate a black accent and act like they never finished kindergarten?) just for the sake of a traditional festivity is like spitting in the faces of every black person out there, including my mother and my great grandparents who actually were the slaves they mock today with this Sinterklaas bullshit.

If you want to know more about Sinterklaas, go search wikipedia or something. I personally don’t want shit to do with it. Though I do want to make my own tradition to celebrate it on my own. And that’s to watch “De Sint” a Dutch horror flic. I personally think this movie made more sense about the real story behind the jolly old fake and the real story behind his crew;