You can't be Santa -- Santa is White

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

I am pretty sure Santa is a Chicken, or else how does his sleigh get off the ground with only reindeer

[MorganX]

So, can a white guy play Malcolm X?

 

Not applicable. Malcolm X was a real person and he was black. Talking about fictional characters ...

[MorganX]

And, Abraham Lincoln was black. At least, to those of us who admire him...

 

The fact that people ignore reality in religion is of no surprise. The reality is that Jesus was not white though, no matter how wrong they have it in the West or in Asia.

 

I don't do the honorary black dude thing (hear me Richie Incognito). Lincoln was white. What he did has nothing to do with the color of his skin. Nor, half the country who did the right thing, sheltered runaway slaves at risk to their own family. All that. And if there's ever anyone whose physical appearance is irrelevant it's Jesus, who, based on where he lived and his occupation while in the flesh, was a somewhat sturdily built arab-ish dude. Enough of that. Back on topic, I think Clark Griswald could be black but if I was the actor I'd be like, hey, keep Beverly DeAngelo ...

[Dick Montage]

Not applicable. Malcolm X was a real person and he was black. Talking about fictional characters ...

 

Fully applicable.  Both are recognised icons and roles defined by a very specific look.

[thomastmc]

I don't do the honorary black dude thing (hear me Richie Incognito). Lincoln was white. What he did has nothing to do with the color of his skin. Nor, half the country who did the right thing, sheltered runaway slaves at risk to their own family. All that. And if there's ever anyone whose physical appearance is irrelevant it's Jesus, who, based on where he lived and his occupation while in the flesh, was a somewhat sturdily built arab-ish dude. Enough of that. Back on topic, I think Clark Griswald could be black but if I was the actor I'd be like, hey, keep Beverly DeAngelo ...

 

I was being sarcastic about Abraham Lincoln. If Jesus can be an honorary white and/or Asian person, why not make Lincoln an honorary black person? Because both examples are equally ridiculous, is my point.

 

Which one of these persons is unlike the others... Lincoln, Jesus, Caesar, Santa Claus... I'd totally agree that it's irrelevant in relation to this topic :)

 

BTW, I don't think any white guy other than Chevy Chase could pull off Clark Griswold, let alone a black guy. Maybe Steve Martin, maybe. The guy from the Office and Hangover, is a very remote possibility. Clark Griswold is who Richard Pryor or Chris Rock are imitating when they do their white guy impressions, and while it's funny to watch for brief bits on stage, Chevy Chase was so great because he was so believable as that person.

[MorganX]

Fully applicable.  Both are recognised icons and roles defined by a very specific look.

 

No, one is a real person, with a real history, and with a real ethnic background. The other is not. St. Nicholas is real, but that's not Santa Claus. St. Nick's giving and who he gave it to didn't translate well, so the sentiment of giving was infused into this mythical character.

[MorganX]

I was being sarcastic about Abraham Lincoln. If Jesus can be an honorary white and/or Asian person, why not make Lincoln an honorary black person? Because both examples are equally ridiculous, is my point.

 

Which one of these persons is unlike the others... Lincoln, Jesus, Caesar, Santa Claus... I'd totally agree that it's irrelevant in relation to this topic :)

 

BTW, I don't think any white guy other than Chevy Chase could pull off Clark Griswold, let alone a black guy. Maybe Steve Martin, maybe. The guy from the Office and Hangover, is a very remote possibility. Clark Griswold is who Richard Pryor or Chris Rock are imitating when they do their white guy impressions, and while it's funny to watch for brief bits on stage, Chevy Chase was so great because he was so believable as that person.

 

You're probably right about Clark. His "whiteness" is an integral part of who his character is, at least in the first one. Race/ethnicity doesn't have to mean anything bad nor define a person. But sometimes it does...

 

If that teacher doesn't know there's black Santas, she must never go to the mall at Christmas time, lol. She's kind of dense, but she definitely shouldn't lose her job based solely on that incident.

[Growled Member]

Wow, talk about things getting blown out of proportion.

[thomastmc]

Your probably right about Clark. His "whiteness" is an integral part of who his character is, at least in the first one. Race/ethnicity doesn't have to mean anything bad nor define a person. But sometimes it does...

 

If that teacher doesn't know there's black Santas, she must never go to the mall at Christmas time, lol. She's kinds dense, but she definitely shouldn't lose her job based solely on that incident.

 

It's really more about culture than race or ethnicity. We just happen to be mostly split culturally along the lines of race and ethnicity.

 

In a lot of ways, it's no different than U.S./Europe, or the English and the French or Germans. Even the mid-west and east/west coasts and the south in the U.S.. There are things about our culture that we can see are funny or odd, especially through the eyes of someone from another culture, as well as things we find funny or odd about other cultures.

 

Santa Claus is definitely funny and odd, especially for anyone from a culture that doesn't have a Santa Claus. The reason I think Jesus comes up so often and quickly in every conversation I've seen about whether Santa can be black is because some people, even though they know he's as real as the Easter Bunny, still see Santa Claus in sort of the same way they did when they were children. They sort of see him as being like Jesus, or at least the odd man out in the Holy Trinity.

Edited December 17, 2013 by thomastmc

[vcfan]

the teacher is probably more of an idiot than a racist. he apologized, lesson learned, lets move on. But wait..noooo. That's not enough. I want blood.

[DocM]

> The reality is that Jesus was not white though, no matter how wrong they have it in the West or in Asia.

You can't know that.

Anthropologically Caucasians include all or part of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and West, Central and South Asia. There are Indians who qualify.

In the US census "white" includes "a person having origins in any of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa." Brazil has a similar definition. These are the largest nations who define "white."

Jesus, a Galilean, came from the Middle East and could very well have been a Caucasian / "white."

[riahc3]

Hello,

I think there is no story. Teacher made a racist comment, apoligizied, and accepted. That's it. The end.

The only thing possible is a lawsuit for racism. Other than that...

[francescob]

Can we at least agree that no matter if white or black Santa is still a reptilian?

[thomastmc]

You can't know that.

Anthropologically Caucasians include all or part of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and West, Central and South Asia. There are Indians who qualify.

In the US census "white" includes "a person having origins in any of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa." Brazil has a similar definition. These are the largest nations who define "white."

Jesus, a Galilean, came from the Middle East and could very well have been a Caucasian / "white."

 

Caucasoids aren't mostly white like Europeans. Their skin tone ranges from very light to brown.  

 

Sure, there is no way to know exactly what Jesus looked like. We do know what Jewish people around the 1st century looked like though, and it's not Caucasoid.

[Growled Member]

The only thing possible is a lawsuit for racism. Other than that...

 

I think they are working to get the teacher fired.

[Shiranui]

Santa IS white, but why the hell should that preclude black people from dressing up as him?

[Shiranui]

EVERYONE feels more comfortable on SOME level when someone matches their ethnicity.

How old are you? 68?

Speak for yourself.

[KingCracker]

I don't know I was raised believing santa was white so seeing a black santa would be weird but whatever, he's not hurting anyone so let him do what he wants.

[MorganX]

You can't know that.

Anthropologically Caucasians include all or part of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and West, Central and South Asia. There are Indians who qualify.

In the US census "white" includes "a person having origins in any of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa." Brazil has a similar definition. These are the largest nations who define "white."

Jesus, a Galilean, came from the Middle East and could very well have been a Caucasian / "white."

 

If you're classifying white as Caucasian, then he was Caucasian. But almost surely not white, nor blue eyed. Practically all arabs are Caucasian including Sadaam Hussein. Hispanics are Caucasian and by that criterion, therefore white. Hence the white/non-Hispanic white/Hispanic option of government forms.

 

Cleopatra was white as well, Persian to be specific, as was the Ramses line of Pharohs. Redheads. Nubian Pharos were Negroid, and very black. Egyptian culture was not a color based racist society. If you lived Egyptian culture, you were Egyptian.

 

American racism is it's own animal, created for a purpose, and perpetuated by racist Americans, though the slave trade is over, now we trade in human women and children mostly. No need to create a criteria to justify discrimination against them, just kidnap them and sell them.

[MorganX]

Hello,

I think there is no story. Teacher made a racist comment, apoligizied, and accepted. That's it. The end.

The only thing possible is a lawsuit for racism. Other than that...

 

There is no such thing, and if there were it would be hard to prove damages.

[Hum]

Jesus wasn't white either.

Depends on His mood.

[compl3x]

Fully applicable.  Both are recognised icons and roles defined by a very specific look.

 

 

lol. Seriously?

 

Anyway, it seems the whole thing has been dealt with:

 

"This situation involves a teacher recently hired by Cleveland High who made -- and admits he made -- a stupid mistake," the director said. "The remark was inappropriate and should not have been made. The teacher feels very badly about what occurred. He self-reported the incident to the principal and has apologized to the student and to the student's parent. Appropriate disciplinary action has been taken."

The boy's family has asked that he be moved out of the teacher's class, and the school has complied, Vesely said.

 

[Hum]

Santa Visits SNL

 

Santa drops by the Weekend Update desk to set the record straight on his racial origins. Turns out he's not as white as was previously discussed in the Fox News discussion earlier this week. Mrs. Claus is totally white however.

2:44 mins 14 Dec, 2013

 

http://screen.yahoo.com/popular/weekend-santa-080000339.html

[DocM]

If you're classifying white as Caucasian, then he was Caucasian. But almost surely not white, nor blue eyed

>

Never argued Jesus was blue eyed etc. My problem is he whole use of the term "white" in this context.

Back to Santa, who derived from Sinterklaas. If you trace Sinterklaas back far enough he has a huge number of parallels to the Norse god Odin.

Continue....

[Torolol]

Before human technology advances, the evolution made it the way that blacks will died out in northern, colder, snowy  hemisphere.

therefore to make it consistent classic santa will be white, but modern santa can be any colors.