Say "Saint Nicholas" very fast, it would sound like "Santa Claus". The Dutch version of Saint Nicholas is Sinterklaas. The very real Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop who was known for giving gifts to the less fortunate.
While the real Saint Nicholas is Greek (who lived in a town that is now part of Turkey), the Santa we usually see on TV looks more Northern European. So we see Santa as a very white-skinned man with a white beard, and lives in the North Pole.
Recently, Aisha Harris wrote the following
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2013/12/santa_claus_an_old_white_man_not_anymore_meet_santa_the_penguin_a_new_christmas.html
I remember feeling slightly ashamed that our black Santa wasn’t the “real thing.” Because when you’re a kid and you’re inundated with the imagery of a pale seasonal visitor—and you notice that even some black families decorate their houses with white Santas—you’re likely to accept the consensus view, despite your parents’ noble intentions.
Two decades later, America is less and less white, but a melanin-deficient Santa remains the default in commercials, mall casting calls, and movies. Isn’t it time that our image of Santa better serve all the children he delights each Christmas?Aisha Harris went to say Santa should become a penguin (nevermind that they're from Antartica, not the Arctic where Santa lives) for the following reasons
“For one thing, making Santa Claus an animal rather than an old white male could spare millions of nonwhite kids the insecurity and shame that I remember from childhood,” she wrote.Well, this got Fox News attention as "political correctness run amok" and with Megyn Kelly saying that Santa (and Jesus) is white. Jesus was a Jewish guy from a town that is now a part of the West Bank. Jews are considered "white" by non-white minorities, but "non-white" by Europeans.
Feeling confused?
It's about to get more crazy
You see, on liberal websites like Salon.com, they defended Aisha Harris from her critics. Yet, in this past year, you'll see ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF ARTICLES complaining about the following manini issues
- a European-American actress portraying an African-American character for Halloween
- Katy Perry wearing a kimono for an award show performance
- Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's supposed "stealing" of "black culture"
So yeah, we can make Santa whatever we want, but the folks at Salon.com (and other progressive correctness websites) will go ballistic if there's a White Fat Albert or an Anglo Dora!
We can Santa whatever we want, but "sensitivity training alert" if a bunch of European-Americans want to portray non-white characters for Halloween?
This is just getting silly.
Look, I wear a Santa hat every December, and I'm wearing a Santa hat now as I'm typing this! I could care less if the character I'm portraying is Greek or German or whatever. I like the character's "content of character" and that's all I care about!
last year's photo
me (aka Santa)
I have NEVER felt excluded by the constant portrayal of a white Santa on TV. I NEVER felt excluded by my favorite childhood characters being a different race or a different species (ie Ninja Turtles) from me. As far as I'm concerned, characters are just characters.
And it would be stupid for anyone to feel excluded by the Spanglish speaking Dora, the African-American Fat Albert or by a bunch of turtles who practice a Japanese martial art and eat Italian food, and have Italian names, and speak the slang of California Anglos while living in New York. It's just a bunch of characters. If you got better characters, promote them!
Aisha Harris can post all the drawings of a black Santa or a penguin Santa she wants! I'm cool with it!
But I'm tired of progressive correctness writers/websites/etc screaming and complaining about "ethnic Halloween costumes", or about European-Americans using non-white music/slang/fashion as a so-called "minstrel show". This shows massive hypocrisy on the progressive correctness activists.
Now, I'll end this blog post with another example of a fiction character --- The Boy Who Cried Wolf! The boy pranked his family and neighbors about a wolf that wasn't there. But when a wolf later came by for real, nobody believed the boy's warnings.
So the progressive correctness crowd will make fake claims of racism about a "white Santa" or "ethnic costumes". When real, serious racist incidents happen, nobody will listen to the progressive correctness crowd, because they've been Crying Wolf too many times to be taken seriously. That is truly sad!
Merry Christmas
