Gather ’round, kids! Here’s a history lesson from Fox News‘ Megyn Kelly…
“Jesus was a white man… He was a historical figure. That’s a verifiable fact — as is Santa. I just want the kids watching to know that,” said Megyn, who was just called “Fox News’ Brightest Star.” (Is it just me, or does that make it sound like Megyn’s parents never told her the truth about Santa?)
Megyn shared her “verifiable facts” in response to Slate columnist Aisha Harris’ argument that Santa Claus shouldn’t be depicted as an old white man. In the column, Aisha — who is black — said she felt shameful around the “white-as-default” Santa celebrated during her childhood.
“I remember feeling slightly ashamed that our black Santa wasn’t the ‘real thing,’ Aisha explained. “So I propose that America abandon Santa-as-fat-old-white-man and create a new symbol of Christmas cheer. From here on out, Santa Claus should be a penguin.”
Although Aisha later described the whole article as intentionally tongue-in-cheek, Megyn took it seriously. Really. Darn. Seriously.
“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change,” Megyn said on Wednesday’s The Kelly File. “How do you just revise it in the middle of the legacy of the story and change Santa from white to black?”
Monica Crowley, Megyn’s guest, agreed: “You can’t take facts and then try to change them to fit some sort of a political agenda or sensitivity agenda.”
In a follow-up article for Slate (which she wrote because Fox News never asked for her comment), Aisha pointed out the one fact that Megyn & co. neglected.
“Santa is loosely based on Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek bishop… who was depicted as tall and thin and, you know, Greek,” Aisha said. “And yet Kelly and her guests not only say repeatedly that Santa is real and definitely white, they also equate him with Jesus, who, historians generally agree, was a Jewish man who grew up in Galilee. Was he white? Probably not. But the truest answer is that we really don’t know. Also, whiteness is a historical construct. And, again, Santa isn’t real.”
So, why does Aisha have every right to get worked up about the white Santa/black Santa/penguin santa debate? Maybe because racial stereotypes are still alive and well in this country. Case and point: In a display at the University of Indiana, students were asked whether Santa should be portrayed as black… And one college student responded, “If Santa Clause is a black man, wouldn’t all the presents be stolen?” Another said, “Wouldn’t he only visit the ghetto?”
