Megyn Kelly went viral when she declared Santa Claus “just is white,” but a decade later the idea of what St. Nick can look like has only expanded.
Aisha Harris had no idea of the uproar she would create when she recommended the Christmas Penguin.
Ten years ago, the writer and journalist published a lighthearted viral essay titled “Santa Claus Should Not Be a White Man Anymore,” in which she questioned the ubiquity of white Santa imagery.
“America is less and less white, but a melanin-deficient Santa remains the default in commercials, mall casting calls, and movies,” Harris wrote. “Isn’t it time that our image of Santa better serve all the children he delights each Christmas?” In fact, she suggests, a Christmas Penguin can represent the holiday instead of a person.
The backlash was swift, especially after anchor Megyn Kelly responded to the piece on her Fox News show “The Kelly File.” “This is so ridiculous, yet another person claiming it’s racist to have a white Santa,” Kelly said. “And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white.”
The part they left out with the Megyn Kelly rant was that she said that Jesus was white too. You know, Jesus, the middle-eastern Jew.
You know, Jesus, the middle-eastern Jew.
I know it’s really popular these days to pretend Jesus for sure looked like a modern middle Eastern person, but it would be more accurate to say that we didn’t know what he looked like given the variety in how people in 1st century Judea might have looked.
For example, one of the dead sea scrolls claimed Noah was a redhead.
2 Kings 5:27 talked about how there was a subpopulation who had ancestrally transmitted skin as white as snow:
Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever." So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
In fact, the biblical leprosy may have actually been skin cancer - the extensive focus on skin checks would have made more sense for a paler skinned population such as redheads who have 10-100x the melanoma risk of people without those genes.
It’s worth pointing out this all has little to do with the concept of race, given that in antiquity a number of prominent redheads appeared to be prehistory populations from North Africa - so you could have had African ancestry but redhead appearance for people in the Southern Levant.
There’s even the only extant sample of 1st century CE Jewish hair so far:
One of the more fascinating finds in this tomb, one that has not received much attention, was the preservation of a sample of Jewish male hair. The hair was lice-free, and was trimmed or cut evenly, probably indicating that the family buried in this tomb practiced good hygiene and grooming. The length of the hair was medium to short, averaging 3-4 inches. The color was reddish.
You had the Nazirite population, some of whom were designated as such from birth, where the vows were taken by the sacrifice of a cow with entirely red hair and one of the prohibitions was not being allowed to cut one’s hair.
A population described as having unusually light skin in Lamentations 4:7. And with the tradition of John being a Nazirite from birth and the later tradition of James the brother of Jesus also being a lifelong Nazirite, it’s an increasingly muddied picture given our relative ignorance about the unwritten characteristics or traditions of that area and time.
TL;DR: So it’s one of these popular but inaccurate pictures of antiquity. There were likely a variety of different appearances in that area in antiquity, and the only real conclusion about Jesus being “a middle Eastern Jew in the 1st century” is that it’s an insufficient amount of information to extrapolate any kind of accurate visual depiction without additional information.
Your argument is fair and nuanced. Her claim, however, was not:
“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change,” Kelly said. “Jesus was a white man, too. It’s like we have, he’s a historical figure that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?”
Agreed, Kelly is a nutjob. It’s just a pet peeve when I see the common reactionary response that often misrepresents our understanding of history and propagates misinformation, so I try to provide a bit more accurate context when I see it.
Understood. As I said, you have a fair and nuanced argument. And the context is appreciated, so thank you.
Racist fanfic cannon is pretty wild.
Ah you must mean Jesus, the anti-establishment hippie anarchist preacher leading a grassroots community resisting Roman occupying forces, who was also anti woke and pro corporate interest and pro tax cuts for the rich and openly advocated for income inequality
Well Jesus is also in the land of mythical beings so why not… 🤣
That kind of nonsense is to be expected from the far right. But TBF you’ll also sometimes see people on the left describe Israel as a white colonial state and Israelis as white, especially now during the whole Gaza thing, despite a clear majority of Israelis having (relatively recent) middle-eastern roots. Eg. Ben-Gvir, the controversial Israeli Minister of National Security and far right nationalist, has Iraqi and Kurdish ancestry.
🎅🏿
Wow that’s an emoji now? I added a custom black Santa to my discord server years ago because there wasn’t one then
Since most phone apps nowadays use the same set of emojis and just generally come with a skin tone selection for all of them that’s not an issue anymore.
I totally missed this controversy. Black Santa was a thing long before that.
I don’t think normal people care what Megyn Kelly has to say about anything.
Penguins are from the South Pole. There are no penguins in the North Pole.
There are some fish though probably.
I’d expect people from the North Pole to be more likely Inuit than anything else. Amirite?
The only Santa I’ll recognize is a drunk German!
Especially if he brings me some St. Bernardus Christmas Ale… yummy.
Ah yes, Megyn “pepper spray is a food product” Kelly.
Next up on Across The Santa-Verse…
Santa Noir And The Case Of Missing Elves
I fully expect this movie soon based on where DC and Marvel are heading.
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I mean it would have an easier time sliding down chimneys but how is it supposed to carry a sack of toys without thumbs?
Kowalski! Analysis!
I don’t think race or gender swapping existing characters is that shocking to anyone anymore. So what fuss would there be lol? It’s no longer edgy at all.
