A video shows several young people apparently attacking a man dressed as Santa Claus.

According to the user who shares the video, this is said to have happened in Germany, but there is no more precise location. In the video you can actually see several people, in the foreground a Santa Claus and several young people, who are shouting various sentences both behind the man and in front of him, which are not in German.

https://www.facebook.com/gerd.herrmann.505/videos/594649961282335/

The user describes the video with the words:

“Santa Claus ? is attacked and insulted as a racist ? ? ? ? Germany 2019!!”

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Screenshot: mimikama.org

What is true:

In fact, one can understand why Santa Claus is apparently said to be “racist” several times.

What was actually said:

Here are some of the sentences in the original language:

“geen racisme” (“no racism”)
“weg wezen broer” (“Get out of here, brother”)
“een voor alle… alle voor een” (“One for all… all for one”)
“geen racisme in Laak broer “ (“No racism in Laak, brother”)
The language is Dutch .
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Where did this happen?

The whole thing happened on the evening of December 5, 2019 in Laak, a district of the Dutch city of The Hague. Hart van Nederland ” and “ AD among others , the actor of “Sinterklaas” and two actors of “Zwarte Piet” were attacked and pushed by the young people.

One of the Zwarte Piet actors also reported the incident to the police, but did not file a complaint. A police patrol car then drove through the area, but was no longer able to find the group of young people there. Since this is apparently known to the police, they will try to locate it.

What is the background?

To do this, we have to delve a little into the history of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (in German: “Black Peter”).

What in this country is St. Nicholas, who fills children's boots with sweets (or coal if they were bad) on the evening of December 5th or morning of December 6th, is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands.

Since at least 1850, Sinterklaas has also had an assistant, Zwarte Piet. Particularly in old depictions, the assistant is a dark-skinned man with thick, red lips and a servant's uniform.

Image source: npo, Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in a picture book by Jan Schenkman, 1850
Image source: npo , Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in a picture book by Jan Schenkman, 1850

The exact background of how Sinterklaas came to the Zwarten Piet is unclear. One of the stories , for example, is that Sinterklaas bought him for 150 guilders at an Egyptian slave market. The Zwarte Piet is said to be a Moor, a Berber tribe from North Africa, of which many people lived at the time both in Spain (where Sinterklaas lives) and in the Netherlands.

In recent years, more precisely since the end of the 70s, the accusation of racism has
flared up again in 2013 In a survey of 780 Dutch people of Antillean and Surinamese origin who were asked about their experiences with Zwarte Piet, a majority of 73 percent found the figure to be racist. 62 percent were discriminated against by the portrayal of the character.

Many of those interviewed experienced this discrimination as children, for example when they were only called “Zwarte Piet” by the teacher because he was considered a “stupid servant”. Although children think Zwarte Piet is great, adults don't treat it so lightly if you have dark skin and use the name as a swear word.

Although slavery was abolished long ago, this tradition was not. Another part of those surveyed is not disturbed by racist slogans. One person said that she once met a mother with a little boy, the boy just said with a smile, “Look, there's Black Piet!”

“For a boy like that, you’re a hero who brings gifts. Feeling discriminated against is also a choice.”

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Conclusion

The video was not made in Germany, but in the Netherlands.
The group of young people insult Sinterklaas and in particular the two actors of Zwarte Piet as racists. The background is the long-simmering dispute in the Netherlands over the figure of the assistant, who was originally a dark-skinned slave and is often portrayed that way today.

Research: Janine M.

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )