Free Republic

• Racism controversy dampens Holland's Sinterklaas tradition Children across Europe eagerly await the arrival of St. Nicholas on December 6. But in Holland, the tradition has racist implications that the Dutch aren't quite willing to give up. For the Dutch, Sinterklaasavond (St. Nicholas Eve) on December 5 is the biggest celebration of the year - bigger than Christmas. That evening, families gather and exchange presents, and children leave out their shoes in the hopes that Sinterklaas will have fill them with candy by the next morning. What seems like a harmless holiday devoted to gifts, candy, and children, has a...

DURHAM, N.C. -- At shopping malls across the region, Santa Clauses are greeting lines of children and listening to their Christmas wishes. But some parents don't like the homogeneity of the men behind the white beard and red suit, and one group of mothers is bringing diversity to the North Pole. "We would like to see Santas of all ethnicities that represent all children," said Tammy Cruell, of Mocha Moms, a group of African-American stay-at-home mothers. Mocha Moms plans a Dec. 10 party at the Hayti Heritage Center, in Durham, that will feature the only African-American Santa in the region...