Black, white or imaginary? Santa's race has the US in a Christmas kerfuffle
I notice the absence of any discussion on the designing and selling of Santa by Coca Cola. The red and white Santa is dressed in are the colours of Coca Cola. The colours Coke dressed him in - to sell more Colas
Black, white or imaginary? Santa's race has the US in a Christmas kerfuffle
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly has sparked off a festive spat with her comments about Santa Claus's skin colour – so much for seasonal goodwill
Ahh, Christmas! So close you can lick the air and it tastes like a delicious mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and Jesus. Apple-cheeked children skip through the streets, pulling wooden sledges behind them as they shout out: "Gor blimey, your ladyship, merry Christmas!" and the whole land is suffused with so much saccharine good cheer that even Richard Curtis thinks it a bit much. Across the ocean, one question and one question only rings out amid the bells: "Oh tell me, magic spirit of Christmas – is Santa Claus white?"
It's December, so in America it's not just Christmas but a War on Christmas. This War on Christmas is basically the US right wing's It's a Wonderful Life: traditional, self-affirming, completely fictional and on TV every flipping year. But this year it has a new battle, with an exciting and predictable if actually unexpected push from the right: what race is Santa Claus?
Some of you might be saying, "Er, he is an imaginary race? What with him being imaginary and all?" But that is to underestimate America's obsession with race. But mostly, it's to underestimate Santa.
The debate began when Slate published an article by writer Aisha Harris about how weird it is to grow up as a black child and only see Santa Claus as a white man. A fair enough point, seeing as (a) white children will soon be in the minority in America and (b) Santa is – oh yeah! – imaginary. Slate gave the piece the Fox News-bait of a headline Santa Claus Should Not Be a White Man Anymore and, lo, Fox News took the bait.
Professionally morally outraged Fox anchor Megyn Kelly debated this hot breaking news issue with not one, not two but three guests, and kicked off proceedings by stating the scientific fact that "Santa just IS white. Santa is what he is. I just wanted to get that straight." She then added: "Jesus was a white man, too", suggesting Kelly not only doesn't know that much about the history of Jesus but, more damningly, has never seen Madonna's Like a Prayer video, which features a black Jesus (or possibly saint. Or Pope. Despite her name, Madonna has never been very precise with her religious references.)
Kelly's claims attracted much attention, from both supporters and detractors. For the latter, Jon Stewart pointed out that Kelly's ringing argument – "Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change" – might as well be the motto for oppression. On the other side, Rush Limbaugh stepped up for Kelly, describing Santa Claus as part of "American history" – he was at the theatre with Abraham Lincoln, you know – and making the truly definitive point that Santa is white because that's how he appears in the Coca-Cola andGillette adverts. This means it is also a verifiable fact that Santa doesn't drink Fanta, which seems a shame, if only for poetry's sake.
Kelly has since made a non-apology for white-washing Santa by saying her critics displayed "the knee-jerk instinct by so many to race-bait". As Media Matters pointed out, Kelly knows plenty about race-baiting. Aside from announcing on TV that Santa just is white, in 2010 she exploited racial tensions by devoting a nigh-on hilarious 45 segments of her show to allegations that were to prove as imaginary as Santa Claus, claiming that President Obama was using the Justice Department to protect the New Black Panther party, which numbers about two people. Even a New York Post journalist – roughly, the equivalent of the Sun in Britain – criticised Kelly for "doing the scary black man thing". Kelly also knows plenty about hypocrisy: once she was fierce in her criticism of "anti-capitalist entitlements", such as maternity leave – until she herself took maternity leave, at which point she claimed anyone who criticised that anti-capitalist entitlement was "moronic", probably the truest thing that's ever come out of her mouth.
But let's not waste any more time on Kelly – it is Christmas after all, guv'nor. Let's try to stay in a good mood – and focus on what this means for the far more important cultural figure of Santa.
In his essay Six to Eight Black Men, from the collection Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris writes that he likes to learn about European countries by finding out about their Christmas traditions – and none tickle him more than the Dutch. In the Netherlands, Sedaris is told, St Nicholas arrives in town flanked by "six to eight black men" who used to be Nick's slaves but are now his "friends" and, together, they all beat bad children with a switch. Merry Christmas, kids! It is not specified whether Nick himself is black – although he is specified as being very thin, which I personally find far more disorientating than thinking of him as black – but what is very much specified by the Dutch people is thatChristmas should be heralded by dressing up as Santa's mischievous companion Zwarte Piet, or Black Peter, which involves wearing Renaissance-style clothes and blacking up. Because nothing says Christmas better than breaking out the blackface and donning a doublet. So Santa, as you can see, is no stranger to racial controversy.
But is Santa white? Well, unlike Limbaugh, I do not take adverts as gospel so must therefore regretfully discount Gillette's contribution as evidence, although it is good to be reminded now and then how completely demented the American right – and the left, but mainly the right – is about race. Seeing as Santa – with or without his six to eight black men – is for children to enjoy as opposed to adults to debate, I'll leave it to them to decide. But we grownups know the real truth about Santa: she's black.
posted by Satish Sharma at
03:24
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