Black Santa

[amIblue?]

I was surprised that no one posted about Megyn Kelly's asinine comments about Santa (and Jesus) being white, but I found this article today on Gawker about the Black Santa at Macy's that I thought was interesting

http://gawker.com/macys-has-a-black-...ret-1488574808

Can I just say that this is one of the best, jolliest Santas I've ever seen? I mean, I don't know that you'd expect less than the best at Macy's flagship store, but I want to go see this Santa!

[badgeguy]

Did she lose here job over those remarks? I don't have cable anymore so I cannot watch Fox, but seems to me that if she did not, then I think all those people of the past that have also made "racist" or "misinformed" comments who HAVE lost their jobs for making similar comments should be upset that she did not......double standard if you ask me.

[amIblue?]

Given that she works for Fox, my guess is that they gave her a raise.

But seriously, I have not heard that she was fired.

[DrPhil]

Well...I'm more bothered that people are still pushing the Santa thing in the first place. No, kids, there is no Santa, Tooth Fairy, or other stuff. If you are among the fortunate who gets gifts and stuff, you need to know those gifts and stuff come from hard working people (if they aren't stolen) who thought enough of you to be generous.

I thank God my family hasn't exchanged gifts in a generation. Grown folks get their own stuff. The holidays are to get together to laugh and have fun.

As for Jesus, a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Israel back then was most likely of the same ethnicity and racial identification as the majority of people there today and that is typically not of the immediate African diaspora. Jesus was probably not blonde and blue eyed but he was more likely of the white diaspora or perhaps of the Asian diaspora which includes a range of ethnicities, cultures, languages, and physical traits. I still hug Black baby Jesus, though.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Well...I'm more bothered that people are still pushing the Santa thing in the first place. No, kids, there is no Santa, Tooth Fairy, or other stuff. If you are among the fortunate who gets gifts and stuff, you need to know those gifts and stuff come from hard working people (if they aren't stolen) who thought enough of you to be generous.

I thank God my family hasn't exchanged gifts in a generation. Grown folks get their own stuff. The holidays are to get together to laugh as have fun.

Amen.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Well...I'm more bothered that people are still pushing the Santa thing in the first place. No, kids, there is no Santa, Tooth Fairy, or other stuff. If you are among the fortunate who gets gifts and stuff, you need to know those gifts and stuff come from hard working people (if they aren't stolen) who thought enough of you to be generous.

I thank God my family hasn't exchanged gifts in a generation. Grown folks get their own stuff. The holidays are to get together to laugh and have fun.

This!

I'm also extremely happy my family decided to stop exchanging gifts years ago. It's hard for my family to all be together around the holidays now (on my mom's side alone we have people in RI, NJ, VA, FL, TN, and TX), so now only my immediate family sends gifts but they're really small and don't cost much. It's more just a way to say we're thinking of each other on the holiday. Although, my mom sends me the most stuff (a few shirts, some gift cards, and maybe a piece of jewelry she picks up at Express), and still signs everything "From: Santa"

People look at me and my significant other like we're crazy because we never exchange gifts. For us, we'd rather spend our money WITH each other rather than ON each other. For Christmas this year, it's just going to be the two of us so we're making dinner, going to a movie, and buying some different kinds of booze to experiment making some fun holiday mixed drinks. We sometimes go on trips (Vegas for his birthday 2 years ago, and we're going to Mexico in January for mine), or find something fun to do around the city. I'd rather have great memories than great stuff.

[amIblue?]

We don't do gifts for adults in my family, but I think part of the magic of childhood at Christmas is Santa. You don't have many years for that sense of wonder. I'm going to enjoy the fun with my daughter until I can't anymore.

[DrPhil]

LOL. My parents stopped doing the Santa thing early on and I am forever grateful. We caught them taking gifts out of the closet and instead of trying to find a lie they just started giving us money to buy school clothes and games. I'm glad we learned early on to appreciate the money of our parents. We also learned that unless we told our parents we lost a tooth, there was no Tooth Fairy. LOL.

I respect cultures in USA and around the world that celebrate traditions. I just want people to see beyond that and appreciate the humans involved. That includes children who after a certain age are keen enough to grasp that they are blessed to have family or a community that can afford to give them ANY kind of gift no matter how seemingly small.

[maconmagnolia]

Considering the fact that Santa doesn't exist, I don't know why people are debating his race.

[AGDee]

But he did exist. The idea of Santa is patterned after St. Nicholas who was born in what is now Turkey, but which was Greek at the time.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by maconmagnolia

Considering the fact that Santa doesn't exist, I don't know why people are debating his race.

I don't think anyone debated his race; Megyn Kelly stated it was an historical fact that he's white, like Jesus.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I don't think anyone debated his race; Megyn Kelly stated it was an historical fact that he's white, like Jesus.

As long as I've been alive (and before) there has been "debate" over why Santa is depicted as white and why nonwhite kids around the world are waiting for an obese white man to surprise them with gifts. Much respect to the Jackson 5 and James Brown for shedding some light on it all.

St. Nicholas was a real man of the white diaspora but it morphed into something much different and most people don't know the history. I still say, to the people who exchange gifts during the holiday, give thanks to the real life humans who make these gifts possible.

This week's articles:

Saint Nicholas to Santa: The Surprising Origins

Black Peter, Krampus, and the Real Roots of St. Nick and Santa Claus

[badgeguy]

Newsman Francis Pharcellus Church wrote The Sun's response to Virginia.

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

[AOIILisa]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I thank God my family hasn't exchanged gifts in a generation. Grown folks get their own stuff. The holidays are to get together to laugh and have fun.

I wish my family would do away with this, except for the kids. We are fortunate in that we've all done fairly well and we can get what we want for ourselves. So we end up having "The Annual Alcohol and Cookie Exchange" because there's nothing anyone really needs or wants.

[Sen's Revenge]

I like gifts.