Santa knows if you've been bad.
Santa never really held much sway over me. Sure, he knows if I have been good or bad, and he checks his list twice (although in this day and age I suspect Santa uses Excel or some database program, it's just so much easier.) However, in the end, what was going to happen? Worst case scenario, if I have been bad, I get a lump of coal in my stocking. Ohhhh, not coal. It just seemed like Santa couldn't back up his threats.
Black Peter or Zwarte Piet is, Santa's muscle. He is also the Devil. Santa having conquered over evil enslaves the Devil every Christmas. What does the Devil do for Santa you ask? Why his dirty work of course. Where as Santa is big, red and jolly, Black Peter is narrow, gaunt, and a child murderer. If you are bad, Black Peter beats you with a stick, throws you in a rucksack and kidnaps you to Spain. (For the Dutch who came up with all this crazy crap, Spain might as well have been hell.) Suddenly adds a little weight to the good/bad list doesn't it?
Throw in a little mid eighteenth century racism, and suddenly you have a literally black, Black Peter. By the 1850's Black Peter was Santa's slave and a Moor on top of that. So the next time you set out some cookies for that jolly old slave owner, leave a little out something for his helper Black Peter.
Then again...a Muslim man, with a big stick and a rucksack... I bet even with Santa vouching for him, the TSA ain't letting Black Peter fly this Christmas.
Danes dressed in black face as Black Peter
P.S. The Czech just say screw the whole Santa business and get their presents straight from the source: Little Jesus.
JežÃÅ¡ek or Child Jesus looks like this, is scary as crap, and hands out the presents to the Czech children. They also hate Santa there, from a Czech Anti-Santa site.
I have no idea, what the hell is happening here, but it scares me. I guess old timey Santa and new Santa are teaming up to destroy the world, but why isn't Black Peter with them?
For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Peter
http://www.christmas-treasures.com/duncan_royale/Collection/SantaI/BlackPeter.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je%C5%BE%C3%AD%C5%A1ek
and http://www.anti-santa.cz/index_en.php (I highly recommend the Anti-Santa fun page.)
