It's tradition after all

"Yes, I think I will put the kids in blackface today."

Is that the thought process behind costumes for the ugly tradition in Holland? If only it were so simple. First ýou have to be sitting at home and remember "oh, we are out of blackface paint from last year" and then make a little shopping list, on which you write "blackface paint" and then going to the costume shop and comparing the qualities of various blackface paints - not too light, not too dark, easy to wash off, hypoallergenic, SPF?, moisturizes perhaps. Then going to the cash register and paying for it (e.g. looking the cashier in the eyes and handing over money for blackface paint)...

And so it goes. What an ugly tradition.

Update: I am wisely pointed to the David Sedaris essay "Six to Eight Black Men"

The words silly and unrealistic were redefined when I learned that
Saint Nicholas travels with what was consistently described as "six
to eight black men." I asked several Dutch people to narrow it
down, but none of them could give me an exact number. It was always
"six to eight," which seems strange, seeing as they've had hundreds
of years to get a decent count.