In the Netherlands, we have Sinterklaas, who is really the ancestor to Father Christmas. Instead of a short tubby man, we have a long, thin bishop. He is modelled after the real bishop of Myra (born in Patara, Turkey around 280), called Saint Nicholas. He had already been honoured in this region for centuries, when somewhere in the 19th century, he got a loyal sidekick ("Zwarte Piet", or Black Pete), who was a clown of Moorish decent. Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet go around children's homes every year around Dec 5th, to give presents and Zwarte Piet clowns around and is generally clumsy.

Of course, in the Netherlands of the 19th century and early 20th century, we had no black people to play Zwarte Piet for the children. So, it's been a tradition for almost 200 years to paint some people's face black and have them play Zwarte Piet. (See linked picture.)

This is interesting culturally, because of two reasons. First, it's something that will never be accepted in the US, even though it was the Dutch who introduced Sinterklaas (and thus Father Christmas after several iterations on US soil). To illustrate, a picture of a Zwarte Piet was once one of the "WTF is this?" pictures at I-am-bored.com. On the other hand, my parents have lived in NJ for years and have dressed up as Sinterklaas (my father with an EPIC beard) and Zwarte Piet for at least the past five years, for the Dutch children (who are more American than Dutch) that live in the tri-state area.

Secondly, it's becoming more and more a problem in the Netherlands too. Every year, you hear more people say it's racist, with the other side claiming its tradition that's not meant to BE racist (1). The Blackface attire is not so much of a problem, but more the depiction of a black man/woman who is the stupid/clumsy sidekick of the wise, white man. I used to be on the traditional side of the debate, but since I've been talking to Dutch people of Surinamese and Antillian descent who are genuinely insulted (and since I started to understand a bit more about the blackface controversy in the US), I'm starting to shift.




(1) Before Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas used to work alone, or with the devil at his side for some reason. When Zwarte Piet was introduced, the Europeans didn't see much difference between Moors and Devils, so it's probably even intended to be racist since the beginning.

=========
EDIT: once again, smileys....