We thought the hardest thing about growing up in a multicultural household (American, Cuban, Dutch, Mozambican & where ever we might be living at that moment) would be the languages. Well, we were wrong. Luka is three now and just beginning to take notice of the holidays, the seasons and all the questions that come with that...specifically Sinterklaas vs. Santa Claus.
I grew up loving Christmas and everything about it..plays about Jesus' birth at church, midnight mass, waiting every year for my grandmother to take out her "baby Jesus", putting up the Christmas tree and leaving it up (in my house) until February, waiting for Santa and leaving him cookies, waking up at 5 am to open presents...I could go on and on. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
Now that I married a Dutchman we celebrate Sinterklaas on the night of the 5th of December. JJ is adamant about not mixing the two holidays, so our Christmas tree will go up on Dec. 6th so we won't confuse Luka.
Luka seems to know the different. Santa Claus is the jolly chubby guy with the reindeer and Sinterklaas is the dude with the long white beard in the red bishop's outfit that rides a horse. They look very similar and I have told Luka that they are cousins.
I have mixed feelings about celebrating Sinterklaas with our African son. I feel uncomfortable with a guy dressed up in silly clothes wearing black shoe polish on his face "assisting" Sinterklaas. To me that is a way of mocking black people. I did some "research" on the Internet and I used that term loosely because I used Wikipedia, but according to this website:
Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful Moorish dresses, dating back two centuries. These helpers are called 'Zwarte Pieten' (Black Petes). During the Middle-ages Zwarte Piet was a name for the devil. Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas eve the devil was shackled and made his slave. Although the character of Black Pete later came to acquire racial connotations, his origins were in the devil figure. This racialization is reflected in the reworking of the characters' mythos. Their blackness was racial, with Pete being an imported African servant of Saint Nicholas since 1850 (though some people say Pete was a slave who, when Sinterklaas bought him his freedom, was so grateful that he stayed to assist him). Today however, the more politically correct explanation that Pete's face is "black from soot" (as Pete has to climb through chimneys to deliver his gifts) is used. Traditionally Saint Nicholas only had one helper, whose name varied wildly. "Piet(er)" the name in use now can be traced back to a book from 1891.
So whichever way you look at it, in my eyes, it doesn't send a good message. "'Black Pete" is either the devil or a slave or both. Please can some of my Dutch family members shed light on this????
We will celebrate Sinterklaas today and I will grind my teeth as "Black Pete" runs out and throws candy at the children and later they will all play games. I would actually feel much better about the whole thing if a real black person dressed up as "Black Pete," but the black make-up kills me.
But on a happy note, Luka got really excited this morning when he saw that Sinterklaas, Black Pete and his horse had come to get the cookies and carrots Luka had left in his shoe...and he got a present! Today at the party Sinterklaas will have another present for Luka. This morning he got a toy story yoyo. Let's see if he gets the Buzz Lightyear at the party?!?!!?
We will keep you posted....
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