The White House is destroyed!!

[Synful*Luv]

we're Dutch over here, man. We don't give a damn. About anything, really.

What's the deal with Zwarte Piet?

 

[Chronic]

^^
The Suranimese population in The Netherlands wants to see a white person being whipped once a year but the white population wants to see a black person being whipped so they satisfied both parties: a white guy in black-face getting whipped by God.

 

[Synful*Luv]

^^
The Suranimese population in The Netherlands wants to see a white person being whipped once a year but the white population wants to see a black person being whipped so they satisfied both parties: a white guy in black-face getting whipped by God.

Is he supposedly being whipped by God? Is that who Sinterklaas is supposed to be??

In Suriname Zwarte Pieten are multicolored though, right?

Oh wait, yeah, originally he was supposed to be the devil or something? Is that why (I keep in my head calling him stinkerclause, lol) is considered God?

 

[Chronic]

I was full of shit

Sinterklaas basically comes from the same folklore as Santa (Santa is called "Christmas man" here). Sinterklaas is also called Sint Nicolaas, which would be Saint Nicholas in English. I think Zwarte Piet was originally supposed to be a tamed devil yeah. A combination of folklore and racism which slowly became a holiday for kids. Every year Sinterklaas comes from Spain on his steamboat and the Zwarte Pieten come in through the chimney and give gifts. If you were bad they would take you back to Spain in their bag.

I've never been to Suriname but I think it's the same there. For the most part I don't think it reminds people of the Sambo imagery, it's just tradition.

 

[Duke]

The Dutch have a long and proud history of enslaving the black race. Zwarte Piet is a relic of the golden times.

In all seriousness, St. Nicholas' Zwarte Piet's origins are still shrouded in mystery. No one really knows. Like chronic suggests, it may be a relic of a heathen ritual, it may literally represent a (black) slave, or it represents a generic helper who is black from the soot since he's crawling up and down chimneys all the damn time (no way Nicky boy is gonna do that himself with his shiny white-n-red dress).


The simple fact is that during the ages (since the St. Nick festival exists) Zwarte Piet represented many a thing from pre-Christian devil to a wise helper. There is no one particular reason or explanation for Zwarte Piet. He just is.

 

[Synful*Luv]

The Dutch have a long and proud history of enslaving the black race. Zwarte Piet is a relic of the golden times.

In all seriousness, St. Nicholas' Zwarte Piet's origins are still shrouded in mystery. No one really knows. Like chronic suggests, it may be a relic of a heathen ritual, it may literally represent a (black) slave, or it represents a generic helper who is black from the soot since he's crawling up and down chimneys all the damn time (no way Nicky boy is gonna do that himself with his shiny white-n-red dress).


The simple fact is that during the ages (since the St. Nick festival exists) Zwarte Piet represented many a thing from pre-Christian devil to a wise helper. There is no one particular reason or explanation for Zwarte Piet. He just is.

I like your explanation of "he just is" lol

I guess he's similar to the "elves" that "Santa" has in American folklore then. They help out and have no real purpose in life. And i'm sure there are some little people out there who may find them offensive.

Interesting, thanks for responding guys

 

[Duke]

Sinterklaas and Santa Claus share also a small thing from the Nordic beliefs. The hanging of socks and with the Sinterklaas feast, the setting of a shoe (with a carrot or some straw for the St.'s horse) comes from the North, from the god Odin and his horse Sleipnir. Children set their shoe with a treat for Sleipnir and Odin would reward the children with gifts or candy.

So Santa Claus and Sinterklaas are both a mixture of all kinds of traditions and rituals, with the main character based on a real person.

Santa Claus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia