Santa Claus: not white

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Has anyone been following this story? Apparently people are mad because people are arguing that Santa was black.

I really think they should start drawing Santa in pin-striped skin color, including every different shade of skin color, that way everyone can be happy. He could have one blue eye and one brown eye, a turban, Indian feather, and a parrot on his shoulder for good measure.

Seriously though, anyone who wants to alter the skin color of Santa or gets upset that his color is being altered in racist. who the f cares what color this fictional entity is.

 
I am glad you mentioned the Parrot. I personally have always thought of Santa as a pirate sort of character.

I think we need to give him a wooden leg and a hook as well.

This is all part of how everyone in America is butthurt over something. We will be having this same discussion until the end of time.

 
The issue came up with a teacher here in New Mexico who told a student he couldn't dress like Santa cause he was Black.

 
vrs1650 said:
The issue came up with a teacher here in New Mexico who told a student he couldn't dress like Santa cause he was Black.
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That's just wrong. Who cares if he's purple. The kid wants to be Santa, and he can be Santa. You can dress up as whatever you please!

Here's the proof:

a57304e8-1ffd-4628-9489-a562e11b91f5.jpeg


 
I understand people wanting to remain faithful to a particular piece of fiction, but the Santa Clause character has always been a myth and his appearance is pictured differently around the world. I don't even think the actual Saint Nicholas was white.

 
I was talking to my fiancée while waiting in line for an event about this and the Jesus wasn't white thing that Fox News stirred up last week. While we were talking about it there was a group of girls behind us that started getting in a huff about it with one of them saying to the other "I know but it's not worth it just let it go".

My closing statement to my fiancée thus was along the lines of "what difference does the race of Jesus, or Santa, make when it comes to their message or what they are symbolize? The bible mentions nothing about the race of Jesus and thus if you're that attached to him being one particular race, or Santa, what does that say about your own attitudes toward race. Neither figure's skin color should change a thing about them and if someone thinks they do, I seriously question if they realize that's a basic racist attitude."

Still, can anyone tell me with a legitimate basis why either figure's skin color affects their message, or what they stand for, in any way? I'm really curious because I can't think of a single way in which it does matter, unless of course, you just can't handle the fact that not all important historical figures were white.
 
I think many people are just upset (benefit of the doubt, here) about an issue of authenticity. You see this sort of thing a lot when stories are revisited in movies and people are concerned about the ethnicity of characters. For example, The Tolkien universe is built from a predominantly white region based in European lore, and the movies generally remain faithful to this in the casting. Would a black Bilbo or Gandalf affect anything? No, but it would certainly ruffle some feathers, as it would be an odd choice given the vast amount of resources big films have available to them. Why not remain accurate? Of course, any adult who gives some kid shit for wanting to dress up as a Tolkien character is downright insane.

These people might just be racist and that's that, but this Santa discussion may hopefully be just a result of ignorance about the character. He's mythical, he has no official description. A lot of what the U.S. knows about Santa today stems from Coca Cola's marketing since the the early 20th century. Before that he was depicted as whatever the hell you wanted him to be.

 
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panzerfaust said:
I think many people are just upset (benefit of the doubt, here) about an issue of authenticity. You see this sort of thing a lot when stories are revisited in movies and people are concerned about the ethnicity of characters. For example, The Tolkien universe is built from a predominantly white region based in European lore, and the movies generally remain faithful to this in the casting. Would a black Bilbo or Gandalf affect anything? No, but it would certainly ruffle some feathers, as it would be an odd choice given the vast amount of resources big films have available to them. Why not remain accurate? Of course, any adult who gives some kid shit for wanting to dress up as a Tolkien character is downright insane.

These people might just be racist and that's that, but this Santa discussion may hopefully be just a result of ignorance about the character. He's mythical, he has no official description. A lot of what the U.S. knows about Santa today stems from Coca Cola's marketing since the the early 20th century. Before that he was depicted as whatever the hell you wanted him to be.
Click to expand...
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/unused-audio-commentary-by-howard-zinn-and-noam-chomsky-recorded-summer-2002-for-the-fellowship-of-the-ring-platinum-series-extended-edition-dvd-part-one

:D
 
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