St. Nick’s Blackface Helpers Ignite Dutch Racism Debate

There are some things Dutch kids can count on. Rain. Bicycles. And every year, on a cold November day, a gift-bearing Saint Nicholas will arrive, accompanied by African-looking helpers.

While the three weeks of festivities leading up to the Dec. 5 celebration of Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas, will surely take place this year, they’re drawing international scrutiny. A panel that advises the United Nations on human rights has questioned whether depictions of the mischievous helpers, collectively called Black Petes and typically portrayed by whites in blackface paint, are racist.