Zwarte Piet is the helper of
Sinterklaas, and climbs down
chimneys to put
presents and
candy in kids shoes on
December 5th. Sinterklaas has a lot of these
sidekicks, and every
single one of them is called Zwarte Piet.
The
explanation parents these days give to
kids as to why Zwarte Piet is black is that he's not
black because he's from
Africa, but because he climbs down
dirty chimneys.
Therefor, his
skincolor can be
anything but we'll never
know since we only see the
dirt form the
chimney. This is told to avoid
racial issues.
Zwarte Piet can best be translated as Black Pete.