This reminds me of our national tradition, Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas), who has "knechten" (helpers) named Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes), who resemble a mixture of a negro and a moor wearing traditional aristocratic Spanish clothing, and give the children presents and candy every december the 5th.

Of course, this tradition has come under attack from the woke left of the Netherlands, who claim that Zwarte Piet is blackface specifically designed to mock and demonize black people and a legacy of Dutch colonialism and slavery. Rather than doubling down and being unapologetic, a lot of Dutch people who want to keep Zwarte Piet sadly get defensive, afraid of being called racist, and claim things like Zwarte Piet is only black because of all the soot from constantly falling through chimneys to deliver presents to the children.

As recently as october 2013 (when the attack on Zwarte Piet started), everyone would consider you crazy if you unironically called Zwarte Piet a "racist" tradition (and rightfully so), and over 95% of the Dutch population wanted to keep Zwarte Piet.

While Zwarte Piet is still very popular and widely celebrated in the more rural parts of the Netherlands, after years of brainwashing by the Dutch mainstream media, nationwide support for Zwarte Piet has now dropped to around 50% (if we were to take the poll at face value), and most Dutch megacorporations and the Dutch mainstream media have all gotten rid of Zwarte Piet entirely.