Today is the Santa Claus parade in my community. And like many local parents, I will be braving the cold so that my kids will have a chance to watch all of the floats and catch a glimpse of Santa. This year after the parade, they are even having a meet and greet lunch with Santa. The kids are really looking forward to this. I expect it will be the same man that has played Santa for many years in the city, riding in the parade. It is this expectation that made me think about the fact that my children have never seen a black Santa. In fact, when I think of Santa I can only envision a white man, because that is what has most popularly been portrayed. Why can’t Santa look like this:
Even when we decide to reference the possibility of a black Santa, it is filled with the usual negative stereotypes that attach themselves to black people.
Kwanzaa Klawz(quim) He lives off of bacon fat and resides at the summit of the highest rubbish dump in Compton, CA. Black Santa’s workshop is comprised of himself, his wife, Mrs. Black Santa Bitch, and an army of prostitutes (white maids and servants which he calls his Ho-Ho Hoe) dressed as elves. The Black Elf is a rarely considered figure in folklore mythology but is, nonetheless, a Hip-hop reality; particularly in Christmas jungle-porno.
Black Santa is made out of peppermint schnapps, Brown Sugar, Black Liquorice, and Hennessy.
Black Santa is not a kind man that dotes on giving children pleasure. He is a a figure that is angry, uncouth and degenerate. Unlike white Santa, black Santa takes pride in making children cry.
So many of the images that are positive in this culture are associated with whiteness; even when the original legend or story involved a person of color. Jesus is the prime example of this. In early Christianity images were truer to what Jesus may have looked like, because he was often drawn with darker skin. There is no way that Jesus was a white man with blue eyes. Now some Christians may say that it is not important what color he was, because of the message that he came to deliver. But that can only be the case in a color blind world.
Even the myths that we tell children in the form of fairytales often have a white protagonist. What message does this send children of color? The super heroes that my children watch on television from superman to spiderman are all white. These are images that children regularly consume without much thought. This is what the media offers us and nowhere in the mix is there room for the idea that we live in a multiracial world.
I would love to watch the parade and see a black, Asian, Latino or even First Nations Santa. Santa is a mythical person, who need not be bound specifically in white skin. Because we have so normalized whiteness as a monolithic representation of humanity, Santa will be white. In fact, as you walk through the malls happily Christmas shopping, the Santa there will also be white. Perhaps, if you have a forward-thinking employer there might be a an elf of color, but otherwise Father Christmas, the spirit of one of our happier holidays, will uniformly be represented by whiteness. Few will pause to recognize the erasure for what it is and, just like so many other things in the world, a silent message will be sent: people of color are not of the world, we exist solely as peripheral decoration. Santa will be just one more image that will once again declare to every child of color that they are “other.”
Editor’s note: Renee lives in Canada. I told her that I would mention this, because the experience for some in the United States may be different (or may not). For instance, I frequently encountered black Santas growing up–in school…at the mall–and I haven’t believed in Santa since the 70s. I was taught that Santa could look like any of the children he visited. Makes sense, especially for a magical guy who flies in a reindeer-drawn sleigh. Is my experience growing up in a predominately-black steel town unique? Do other racial communities adapt the Santa legend to fit their experiences? How can multiracial communities adapt the Santa experience to the needs of a diverse group of children?
My daughter and I went looking for Black Santa last year in Columbus and couldn’t find him. We asked the local Mocha Moms and were told that he’d be making an appearance at the King Center for Performing Arts but the day he was going to be there our schedule wouldn’t get us there. So we dug around some more and heard he was at a local bookstore so we headed there and nope, he wasn’t. The kid working the counter sent us to a community center where he was handing out toys for charity. We didn’t want the toys but we did want to meet him so we headed out again and he wasn’t there either. This year we’re going to make the King Arts celebration come hell or high water.
Keep in mind that Santa Claus is originally Turkish, his costume was designed by Coca Cola, and his image is mostly from _A Night Before Christmas_. Heck, before that poem came out, he came on Sinterklaas Day (6 December), not Christmas Eve.
So if anyone tells you what Santa *should* look like, they’re basically full of crap.
Just be glad Zwarte Piet didn’t come to North America along with the Sint…
*aw, black santa came to my pre-school one year!*
but i haven’t seen him lately
/nostalgia
We always enjoyed the fact that there was a black and a white santa at Macy’s in NYC. The black santa was fabulous in every way.
as a white child growing up in a predominantly black area (prince george’s county, maryland), i saw plenty of black santas–at the mall and at school. i would say most of the mall santas i saw were black.
i do have one memory of some time in elementary school or preschool when santa visited our class. on this occasion (as on several others), santa was a black man. one of my (black) classmates raised his hand and exclaimed, “hey, santa isn’t black!” to which santa replied, “how do YOU know santa isn’t black? i’m santa, and i’m black, and i say he is!”
the whole concept of santa requires some suspension of disbelief–as dersk wrote, the popular image of santa has changed over time. “the night before christmas” shows a white santa coming down a chimney, but santa can be any color, just as he can still bring you presents if you don’t have a chimney. (on a related note, please allow me to recommend sharon jones’ new holiday single “ain’t no chimneys in the projects” at daptonerecords.com).
there’s always kente claus.
changing the image is actually quite easy. next time it comes up i’ll consider taking that brave step.
Hi, we went to some island when I was very little. (Bahamas?) I had always cried every year at Santa. Until that year, I cried at every santa. That was my first black Santa and my first non crying Santa experience.
I so appreciate this post–as I wasn’t aware of stereotypes of black Santas–and will be now. I have struggled with Santa as white with my almost 5 year old–and really appreciate the post above saying that Santa is magical and can be the color of the child he is visiting!
I also use Santa as white as a reason to wildly down play his importance, not wanting to perpetuate this myth that “an old fat white guy” is responsible for my son’s happiness. (He is AA, I am white, and my other son is biracial.) Yet, I also have very fond memories of the Santa mystique from my childhood.
Living in one of those northern New England states the probability of a black Santa is slim to middlin’. But now when and if we do see him I can say; “Look that is the Santa that will be coming to our house!.”
I grew up in Bermuda, which is 65% black, so black Santa was a regular occurrence. I was fortunate to grow up without many of the representation issues discussed on LIE, since my doctor, dentist, teachers, even most of the government is black. There’s a good chance that I will not be raising my children in Bermuda, so I will have to actively seek out those role models that my parents were fortunate enough to take for granted.
thank you so much for these thoughts! I have been searching and searching for books/images for my daughter that show santa with anything other than snowy white skin – in Ireland, this is a frustrating challenge – so far I am grateful for Dora because I have bought 2 books and a DVD that have the only brown skinned santa I can find – I have been talking to my 3 year old about the Santa with the white skin and the Santa with the brown skin, black skin etc I do not want her to think that Santa is only white. I want her to be able to see Santa in her skin colour. Now we may have to get a flight somewhere to see anything but a white ‘pretend’ santa – but we are going to a Latino festival on sunday and I am hoping hoping that my christmas wish will come true and she will get to see a Latino Santa!
I’d love the go see a SOC (santa of color)! I did see one in Minneapolis a number of years back. I’ve already told my 3 year old that the popular image is one representation of Santa. Not that it means anything to him, but I can’t bring myself to tell him a tale about a jolly fat white man coming in our chimney. If the legend of Santa was important to me to pass on I’d be sorely disappointed by the representation.
AHhh!! I am so happy there was an article about this!! I was actually going to bring up finding a black santa in the next “what is on your mind?” type post because this is majorly on my mind. This is the first year my son has recognized “Santa” (from decorations, ornaments, etc), snowmen/snow-women and “holiday trees/Christmas trees” and he is excited each time he sees one of those symbols of the season. I feel like this is my opportunity to put that association in his mind that Santa can be any color…but how do I find a santa of color??! My husband thinks I am crazy to even care about this (he did not grew up with the Santa narrative and he thinks the whole thing is ridiculous), but I remember reading a similar story to the one @maria put up above…something about how positive it can be to see Santas that look like yourself. I want my son to have that experience. We are going to MD/DC for the holidays so maybe I’ll take him to a mall in PG to find Santa…that’s a good plan if I can’t find one close by…
Best Santa scene ever, several years ago: Mother in hijab at Jakarta mall struggles with hysterical, also hijabed six-year-old demanding to be allowed to sit on Santa’s lap. She eventually caves (who wouldn’t?) So you get headscarfed Muslim six-year-old, sitting on the lap of a Southeast Asian Santa, informing him that she plans to be really really good this Ramadhan. It was awesome. I think he gave her a candy cane.
Also, every year there’s an Aboriginal Santa at the Block (an area of real estate collectively owned by Aboriginal Australians) in Sydney. I don’t think anyone’s ever complained that “that’s not what Santa looks like”. I like the idea that he should be able to look like any of the children he takes toys to.
having a multi-racial family, i am always picking up holiday items that reflect out housheold. we have several black santas around the house durign the holidays, and my kids especially love the big rag doll one that they can cuddle up with. (we have white santas too). but we’ve only ever found one black santa in real life… would definitely love to see more.
Then what color is Santa in a multiracial household?
LOL
Black Santas are worth finding. My favorite Santa in childhood was White and that was because he had naturally rosy cheeks and a real beard and talked to me like he knew me and remembered me from the year before.
The magic of Christmas
Why not indeed.
I agree, Santa is magic and he can be anything we want him to be.
The Oakland California park, Children’s Fairyland, has a Black Santa every Christmas though if anyone is interested you might want to call first just to be sure.
I have not visited in a few years.
I think they just feature the black Santa and don’t alternate with a white Santa which is great as almost 40% of Oakland is white. It may call itself different names like Broadway Terrace, Montclair, Rockridge Glenview it is still Oakland proper.
(I always laugh when CNN reports from “Rockridge California” Its “OAKLAND”) so there is good possibility “Black Santa” may just be “Santa” to at least a few kids and Oakland can be just Oakland.
I recently discovered JATS fairytale classics on AMAZON. I have not read them myself but it’s the classics we grew up with, illustrated with African-American heroes/characters.
Some of the comments say that the books are a bit too direct, using words like widow, die, and drunk.
p.s. I live in Canada and I’ve NEVER seen a black santa…
Oops…I didn’t sign that last message.
It’s from Elise at elise_leona@yahoo.com
Thanks!
I’ve never noticed a shortage of Black Santas in Georgia. Now, I have NEVER seen an Asian or Latino Santa, ever.
“Now some Christians may say that it is not important what color he was, because of the message that he came to deliver. But that can only be the case in a color blind world.”
Is it colorblind to focus more on the important things like the message of giving, holiday spirit, love, and oneness?
While I agree that such icons should come in all colors, not all people that prefer to look at what should be the most important things; the messages these icons give us, are christian.
[Editor's note; I edited in the word "Christian" as that is the common name for followers of Jesus Christ--those who would naturally be concerned with how Jesus is portrayed in religious materials. It was not meant to imply that only Christians are concerned with giving, love, etc. And, not to speak for Renee, but I believe her point is that you are not focusing on love and giving if you are marginalizing POC. To say that concerns over portrayals (or non-portrayals) of POC during the holidays don't matter compared to the Christmas message is to, I think, to misunderstand the Christmas message and revel in privilege.]
I still remember a 12/23/1998 column by Bob Levey in the Washington Post (incidentally, DC borders prince George’s County) who wrote that Santa should be white. Even after reportedly receiving many emails and calls to critique his view, he published a subsequent column (12/31/1998) defending his view – very frustrating. When I tried to look up the article just now, I found several other media stories on the same general topic, either pro or con.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black Santa. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever even taken a picture with a mall Santa. I know my little sister has, and that Santa was white. I like the idea of Santa looking like the kids he visits (i.e. not having to look a certain way), that’s sweet. I also really like the illustration for this article.
I don’t know how well this relates, but this reminds me somewhat of an experience I had in… grade five I believe. We put on a play that took place in NYC. The girls who were assigned to paint the Statue of Liberty gave it peach colored skin, styled blonde hair and blue eyes, complete with exaggerated eyelashes! I told them several times, “uh, you guys, the statue of liberty is green”, but they insisted they were being “creative”. Being 10 or so at the time I didn’t know how to articulate it, but something about it bothered me.
… and @ dersk
That Zwarte Piet article on Wikipedia is the most messed up/unintentionally hilarious thing I’ve read today. So Santa lives in Spain, has a slave, and rips bad children away from their families right before Christmas! LOL at “huge dufflebag”…
I posted a similar comment on the open thread, but I’ll make a comment here. You know — I’m actually against multiracial Santas for the simple fact that St. Nicholas of Myra was a Middle Eastern man from what’s now Turkey (as has been pointed out on this thread.) I think that’s the sole race he should be depicted as.
I don’t want Asian versions of Cesar Chavez. I don’t want Black versions of Confucius. We don’t change the races of other real people to give our children versions that look like them . Kids from the races of their heroes should be able to identify with those heroes and have other cultures identify them with those heroes, and kids from other races benefit from having a hero of a different culture. The fact that St. Nick is a global icon doesn’t justify changing his race. In my opinion, that’s cultural appropriation.
Editor’s note: This is not an equal comparison. St. Nicholas is a real person. Santa is BASED on that real person, then mix in pagan folklore, traditions from various countries (mostly Western) and add capitalism and the art of Thomas Nast. The Kris Kringle who results–the jolly guy who lives at the North Pole with elves–is NOT a real person a la Cesar Chavez and Confucius.
@pajamas – There’s a *great* David Sedaris story about Zwarte Piet and Christmas. I think it may have been on This American Life – you should be able to find the audio with Google.
@Editor – please excuse me if this is at all being persnickety, but I think we should be having deep discussion at LIE.
What does it mean for a Middle Eastern man to become mythologized as a white man? Does a story that depends on the cultural specificities of old Turkish culture — leaving gifts in shoes and down chimneys, giving under the cover of night so as not to shame the poor — being relocated in a Nordic lanscape complete with reindeer take place in the context of white supremacy? If multiple Santas are permitted doesn’t that privilege (and leave as the default) the popularized white Santa most and render the original Middle Eastern one most invisible? With the demonization of Middle Eastern men, what does it mean to reclaim or give up a Middle Eastern hero? What would be the potential benefits, if any, of reclaiming him as Middle Eastern? Is cultural appropriation limited to real people?
Things I thinking about are this: http://yeloson.livejournal.com/530108.html
The Remyth project is this: You, as a person of color, as a person whose myths have been sidelined, removed, changed, altered, turned into movies, popularized and sold, you as a participant of your heritage (even divorced by many generations)… You write up, draw, or ramble in whatever way befits you about a myth you can claim ownership to. You take back that myth.
I’m also thinking about the controversy over Avatar (the cartoon) http://www.racebending.com/v3/ Where a fictional cartoon based on an Asian, First Nations of Alaska/Canada world is being filmed live action with white actors. The characters aren’t real, but IMHO and in the opionion of the blogosphere, the appropriation is.
Please understand, I’m not trying to be argumentative or even right — I just want to discuss.
[Editor's note: You make an excellent point, Moth. That IS what we are here to talk about. I apologize if I didn't give your previous comment enough thought. What, in a perfect world, would you like to see happen with the Santa myth?
Black, Asian, Native American or Latino Santas aside, the Santa that is presented in most Western culture has been stripped of all acknowlegment of what I believe was St. Nicholas' Greek/Turkish heritage. I have not researched the history of how Saint Nicholas became St. Nick extensively, but it wouldn't surprise at all if that erasure were not driven by preferencing of certain races, ethnicities and cultures.
I don't think that NOT having brown Santas, and then settling in to the common Anglo portrayals, fixes this problem, though. It still leaves the origins of the myth unacknowleged. It would be like complaining about portrayals of Jesus as a sub-Saharan African man at the local black church, while ignoring blonde haired, blue-eyed Jesus at the white church across the way. The likely historical reality is still obscured and we end up protecting the image that is most comfortable to us rather than protecting the truth, I think.
So, what is the best way to reclaim myths/legends/real histories that travel far from their origins due to racism, xenophobia, nationalism, appropriation, etc.? I'd love to hear your thoughts.]
@ Editor, I really appreciate your comments. I’d love it if we claimed reclaimation as a basic anti-racist responsibility. In our houses, Santa could return to being a brown Turkish man. This could be done in many ways — instead of buying commercial images of Santa we could, with children, craft our own images of Middle Eastern St. Nick, researching era-appropriate Turkish clothes and other details (teachable moment!) for our art projects. We could teach (age appropriately) the true stories of St. Nick (which are very magical) instead of the legends about reindeer and elves. We could have kids leave baclava and Turkish coffee instead of milk and cookies. These actions, however, are not exclusive to the repatatriation of St. Nicholas. They are analagous to actions that could be taken to reclaim other myths and histories. And we could discuss with our kids why we are engaging in reclaimation and help them analyze how cultural appropriation happens in the first place.
Black Santa still lives at the PG Mall in Hyattsville, MD. (BTW, he hung out at Hecht’s in DC in the 70s). Brought my AA toddler son yesterday. In line to sit on Santa’s lap: white infant girl, African boy, Asian toddler, Latino brother and sister, multiracial AA/Latino family. Awesome. Showed the resulting picture to my diverse second grade class. An African student said Santa can’t be brown, an Asian student said he doesn’t look like the real Santa, two white students said of course he’s Santa, and another African student argued Santa doesn’t exist. Perhaps the next generation will not be as tied to stereotypes…
As has been mentioned above, St Nicholas was from what is now Turkey, but another part of the history of Santa Claus is the shamans of the Sami people. The Sami have always depended on reindeer for their livelihood (and today, ONLY people of Sami descent can herd reindeer) and it appears that this is where Santa’s reindeer come from.
In the winter, the easiest way the local shaman could access people’s homes was through the smoke hole in the top of their houses- the chimney, in effect- and he or she would drop any needed medicines or similar down through this hole.
(Source- a book called ‘When Santa was a shaman).
Since, however, the modern Santa Claus is very distinct from both St Nicholas and from the Sami shamans, there’s no reason to have only a Caucasian Santa.
The requirements for a Santa Claus are jollyness and an infinate patience with small children! Skin colour totally optional.
Hi Elizabeth,
Actually other peoples herd reindeer, too — for example, the Tuvans. I’ve also read Sami people saying they resent being labeled as a “Santa Claus culture” because that association is imposed upon them by outsiders who seek to market them in that manner. Furthermore, Sami people (but perhaps not all of them) traditionally, and many currently, live in tipis — as do the Tuvans and other reindeer cultures — tipi parts are light to migrate with so reindeer can carry them. Tipis have smoke holes — but not chimneys — and, of course, one can’t climb up the canvas or birch bark or other conical shaped soft material of a tipi to get into the (tiny) hole at the top. The easiest way to get into a tipi is through the door.
I totally agree with you that the main requirement for Santa is good cheer and patience : )
I grew up in New York City and was lucky enough to have Santas of every color and race . By age five, I had seen so many positive images of myself, that now it reflects against the “Lack of Self” that I see in many adults where I live today. I now live in Maryland (Southern place and segregated mentality by some) and would have to drive a long way to Prince Georges county to take a child to visit a black Santa. How unfortunate for so many people here raising children. Little things in the everyday life of a child mean alot. Modern Santa is a manufactured fantasy just like so many other things in America. Adding a black Santa to many malls would require acknowledgment and change; something some people seem to have a hard time doing. There is a television special “Christmas in America” that explains about the modern day Santa in malls and parades being created for marketing purposes by a well known company . He was made over to sell product and not for passing on historical reference. This television special is now running on pay tv (Cable, satellite,etc…) Funny, the “Gentile South” was an ad campaign too, a fact unknown or not acknowledged by so many people here in the South as they pass it on to their next generation!!! No black Santa = “Feed the sheep what they already know” (Fear of change) !! LOL!!
Just to confirm, Children’s Fairyland in Oakland still has a Black Santa Clause. He does performances with the children who perform with Fairyland, then visits with all the children and is available for pictures! Awesome!!!
I am heartened to read so many tales of non-white Santas. I’ve only ever seen white ones, and I’m a native Californian. You’d think that, since I live in diverse Sacramento, there’d be a Latino or Black Santa, perhaps even a Hmong Santa. But I haven’t seen one. I don’t think I should have to go out of my way to, either. But Merry Xmas, nonetheless!
I live in Montana and have seen a black Santa! In Montana! Their is very few African Americans here and I remember one came to my class room in a school of all white kids!
Santa was invented in a Germanic part of Europe. Santa was white there, Santa has a Germanic fist and last name, Santa is white. Not only is he white, he is German white. That is right up there with Celtic for whitest. He will never be black, and should never be black.