Dear Hivers,
The last ten years the Netherlands is full of Sinterklaas discussions.
The issue is (or was) that someone in the 1930's thought it was a good idea to give Sinterklaas a helper (called knecht in Dutch).
The helper was called black piet and wore a spanish costume and had a black face. A knecht is not the same as slave but it does not differ a lot.
Some say that colour was required because black piet went through chimneys to deliver the presents but that is not the reason.
It was just racist in origin.
But now with three generations grown up with the idea that once a year an old guy arrives with black piet(s) at his side (personal assistant would be more modern) the broadcasters initially used black and white piets.
Traditional villages where they do not give a shit about public opinion continued with black piets and busloads of white protesters went there to end up beaten up. So far the little children party evolved!
So in 2022 the broadcast companies decided to have the old man arrive without any Piet. He can do all the work himself
With war going on in Ukraine it is good to see what some people here in the Netherlands are concerned with!
have a nice December
Goldrooster