The Dutch Santa Claus ("Sinterklaas") has been in trouble since last year -- because he traditionally has a helper called "Zwarte Piet" (black Pete). The Dutch Santa gets it easy, you see -- instead of climbing down chimneys himself, Piet does that job for him and that does rather blacken Piet. A nice bit of Dutch realism.
But black and white are politically perilous colors these days of course so this year Sinterklaas has FOUR helpers -- with blue, green, yellow and red faces. Details here
The picture above shows Sinterklaas with the "old" Zwarte Piet -- taken on a visit by Sinterklaas to Bondi Beach in Australia. There are a lot of immigrant Dutch families in Australia too that need looking after, you see.
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