Saint Nicolas (part 2)

Like I told in the last post, Saint Nicolas is a big event in the Netherlands. Most of the families don’t give presents with Christmas, but they give the presents with Saint Nicolas. But there’s a big discussion going on over the helpers. That’s because the helpers of Saint Nicolas are black people. This is because they have to go through the chimney to put the presents in the shoes of the children and to bring the other presents.

But now there are people who think that it’s racism to let the helpers be black. They say that the helpers are like slaves and that means that all the black people are like that.

I think that people waste their time by having this discussion. I think that it’s just a fun event with a fun historic story and the black helpers are part of that. And the helpers are not black because it’s their skin color, but they are black because they’ve to go through the chimney.

Actually, I wouldn’t be able to celebrate Saint Nicolas this year, because I’m still here in Finland the 5th of December, but my family postponed it till Christmas, so then I can still celebrate Saint Nicolas!