and rewards good behavior with toys and sweets.
A Black Christmas
I am a country girl at heart and usually spend most of my time in the countryside outside of whatever city I visit. I guess you could call my need for the country an “Earth Jones.” I just have to be in the greens. When traveling I always buy a piece of cloth indigenous to the area and a book of the regional folklore so that I can take a piece of the “real people” home with me.
I'd been in Holland a few weeks one November and needed another travel bag to accommodate the books and clothes I'd bought and the gifts I'd been given. Until this day I'd spent most of my time in the countryside, but I was coming to love the city of Amsterdam with its waterways and tulip gardens and free spirit. I was enchanted by the statues of Hermes and Poseidon overlooking the canals, seduced by vendors selling cheese and Belgian lace, and flattered by an occasional flirtatious smile. I found the sugar beets, windmills, and old castles intriguing. I still wasn't accustomed to the flatlands of Amsterdam and all of Holland (the source of the name “the Netherlands”), and I did find myself missing the beautiful hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.
My companions agreed to escort me through the major department stores in Amsterdam. We turned a corner and suddenly I was confronted by Dutch Christmas decorations. (The sight of Christmas decorations in November has always irritated me. The effort to project a Winter holiday into the Fall season feels unnatural to me. In the United States some stores begin their Christmas advertising as early as the day after Halloween! The rush to the mall (spell that m-a-w-1) and its buying frenzy makes me dizzy. It is, for me, “the nightmare before Christmas.”)
As I walked with my friends from one store to the next, I became aware of the presence of a Black figure in holiday decorations. I'd met many Black people from Suriname living in Holland, but this figure did not reflect any of that culture. Some displays depicted a stylish Black high-fashion mannequin, whereas others used the image of a pollywog—a bug-eyed black doll with big white or red lips. These made me think of black-faced minstrels. In the minstrel shows of the American theater, White men put burnt cork on their faces and acted out outrageous stereotypes of Black people. In these shows Blacks were always depicted as lazy, fearful, and ignorant. In the post-slavery period, when African American performers sought the stage, they were forced to blacken their natural faces and perform an imitation of an imitation of themselves.
Curious and a bit insulted, I began taking pictures of the Black figure. Eventually my companions noticed my interest and unrest and introduced me to this character. His name is Black Peter, and he's Santa Claus' hit man. At first I thought they were pulling my leg, but a little research confirmed this piece of information.
In much of Europe, and particularly in Holland, the main fun takes place on St. Nicholas Eve, December 5. According to the story, St. Nicholas, who was a Bishop, comes each year in a ship from Spain, riding a white horse, to visit every child. To those who are good he will give a gift of sweets or biscuits, and those who have been bad get a light smack with a bunch of birch twigs. Children set out a clog or shoe beside the fire-place containing some hay, bread, and a carrot to reward the saint's horse, in the hope that his assistant, Black Pete, will leave a present, rather than delivering a smack or, worse still, wrapping the really bad children up in the empty sack he carries and transporting them away to Spain as captives. 2
I found this character interesting but also disturbing.
In Europe and the United States, Christmas is a time of drama, music, and pageantry. The Nutcracker ballet and the Mummers' plays are performed in this season. Traditionally, the Mummers' theme is a battle between a White Knight and a Black Villain, usually depicted as being of Turkish (Moslem) or Moorish descent. Of course, the White Knight always wins. I ponder whether this is a reenactment of the “battle between Day and Night,” or is it an emotional response to the Moorish conquest dramatized? In any event, I am not enamored of this holiday as it is celebrated in popular American culture.
I have attended Christmas parties where a Black man shows up as Santa Claus. Sometimes this works for the children, whose imaginations allow them to accept the essence of the folk character without knowledge of the true history. But it just doesn't work for me personally. And, as we shall see later, many African Americans have made the choice to celebrate Kwanzaa instead of, or in addition to, some of the Eurocentric festivities like the one described previously.
The Meaning and Joy of Christmas
Many times I have seen children who are disappointed because “Santa” did not leave them a disco Barbie Doll or that plastic helicopter that cost $39.95 and is guaranteed not to fly. I've also tried to assuage the pain and frustration of hard-working, well-meaning parents who feared losing the respect and affection of their disappointed children. And I've seen other families where expensive gifts are given in lieu of love.
The humility, warmth, and joy of the original Holy Family and their Visitors are what this season is all about. At the end of this chapter I will share information that anyone, of any ethnicity, income level, or location, can use to create meaningful and joyous j.0 celebrations for family and friends.
Kwanzaa
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