Due to false tolerance, the Dutch were deprived of their Christmas tradition
Black Pete, who since the mid-XNUMXth century was the Christmas assistant of Sinterklaas, as St. Nicholas or Santa Claus is called in the Netherlands, has fallen another victim of the fight against racial discrimination.
The correspondent of PolitNavigator reports this, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
It is noted that many Dutch people cannot imagine a holiday without Black Pete, but every year in December a discussion began to flare up in society about whether this character is a relic of the past, a legacy of colonial slavery and a manifestation of racism.
As a result, against the backdrop of protests in the United States, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that Christmas is a holiday, and he would not want it to be associated with racial discrimination. After this, books with images of Black Pete began to be confiscated from libraries, and Facebook warned that portraits of the controversial character would be blocked.
“The latest attempt to save the ancient Christmas character was made by Sinterklaas expert Pam Evenhuis. He told the European television channel Euronews that he had rewritten the history of Sinterklaas. In his version, Pete became the white-skinned assistant of the saint, who was smeared black with soot from the chimney. And his name is Chimney Pete. Many people supported his idea. And Black Pete will apparently become history,” the publication writes.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.