Monday, December 14, 2015
Fox news presenter confirms Santa Claus is white
As news stories go this one is fairly insignificant but stands out due to the level of certainty exhibited by its subject, the Fox news presenter, Megyn Kelly, who not only still believes in Santa Claus but has apparently met him.
The Independent says that the comments were prompted by a rather dubious article published on the US website the Slate, entitled: 'Santa Claus Should Not Be A White Man Anymore', which argues that from now on Santa should be depicted as a penguin. It suggests that the confusion caused by assigning an arbitrary race to a fictitious person could be overcome by making Santa into a cuddly bird.
Responding to the story Megyn Kelly set out to put children straight on the matter and perhaps got a bit carried away:
"When I saw this headline I kinda laughed and I said, "Oh, this is ridiculous. Yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white Santa," Kelly begins.
"And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white. But this person is maybe just arguing that we should also have a black Santa. But, you know, Santa is what he is, and just so you know, we're just debating this because someone wrote about it, kids," she adds.
A fellow contributor to the show Jedediah Bila defended Harris' article, prompting another outburst from Kelly. "Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," she said.
"You know, I mean, Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure; that's a verifiable fact as is Santa, I want you kids watching to know that - but my point is: how do you revise it, in the middle of the legacy of the story, and change Santa from white to black?"
I have heard of casting your heroes in your own image but this is carrying the practise too far. Clearly, it was a slow news day.
Update: Just to bring this up to date this is what scientists believe that Jesus looked like. Using computerised tomography to create X-ray slices of Semite male skulls they gathered complex data about his facial structure, muscles and skin so as to create a 3D reconstruction. And contrary to popular belief they believe God’s son had dark eyes, darker skin, short, curly hair appropriate for men at the time and was bearded, in-keeping with Jewish tradition.
The Independent says that the comments were prompted by a rather dubious article published on the US website the Slate, entitled: 'Santa Claus Should Not Be A White Man Anymore', which argues that from now on Santa should be depicted as a penguin. It suggests that the confusion caused by assigning an arbitrary race to a fictitious person could be overcome by making Santa into a cuddly bird.
Responding to the story Megyn Kelly set out to put children straight on the matter and perhaps got a bit carried away:
"When I saw this headline I kinda laughed and I said, "Oh, this is ridiculous. Yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white Santa," Kelly begins.
"And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white. But this person is maybe just arguing that we should also have a black Santa. But, you know, Santa is what he is, and just so you know, we're just debating this because someone wrote about it, kids," she adds.
A fellow contributor to the show Jedediah Bila defended Harris' article, prompting another outburst from Kelly. "Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," she said.
"You know, I mean, Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure; that's a verifiable fact as is Santa, I want you kids watching to know that - but my point is: how do you revise it, in the middle of the legacy of the story, and change Santa from white to black?"
I have heard of casting your heroes in your own image but this is carrying the practise too far. Clearly, it was a slow news day.
Update: Just to bring this up to date this is what scientists believe that Jesus looked like. Using computerised tomography to create X-ray slices of Semite male skulls they gathered complex data about his facial structure, muscles and skin so as to create a 3D reconstruction. And contrary to popular belief they believe God’s son had dark eyes, darker skin, short, curly hair appropriate for men at the time and was bearded, in-keeping with Jewish tradition.
