Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Why is Santa black?

About a decade ago, Hubby went to the hardware store looking for Christmas stuff. He purchased, among other things, a molded plastic Santa for outside the house.

He called in the car. "There were just a few Caucasian Santas, and a whole bunch of black Santas. I felt bad that no one was buying the black Santas, so that's what I bought." Here he is, with Jake* for scale.


Santa's been a regular part of our holiday decor ever since. Yesterday, I pulled our Christmas boxes out of the attic. Son #1 walked in, saw Santa, and asked, "Why's Santa black? Why am I just noticing this NOW?"

I gave him the whole story.

A few minutes later, son #2 walked in, saw Santa, asked, "Why is Santa black?"

Gave him the story.

Half an hour later, Son #3 walked in, saw Santa, asked, "Why is Santa black?"

Story.

The next morning, Son #4 woke up, walked into the dining room, noticed Santa, and asked, "Why is Santa black?"

Because you go to public school, Son. He was just Santa, until the public schools taught you to be racist.

*I realize Jake should not be walking on the dining room table. He is 14 and hasn't been feeling well. I'm cutting him some slack.

3 comments:

ALF said...

FUNNY! Years and years ago my stepdad bought a Christmas gift bag with a black Santa on it. The bag must be over 10 years old by now but every year my mom pulls it out and it's always fun to see who gets the black Santa bag!

Anonymous said...

If we have to have a black Santa, don't we need an Asian Santa and an Indian Santa and where's my Irish Santa with the whiskey and a red nose? The Hispanic Santa needs to be in there too.

Victoria said...

Growing up, I was never a girly girl... but at some point when I was quite young, there was a white baby doll in my possession... we visited another family in town (Sheridan, WY) and the girl my age (also white like me) had a black baby doll... I negotiated a trade... hers was MUCH more interesting than mine! (it became my youngest brother's 'must have or I won't go to bed' doll... imagine trying to find it outside in the dark when he had no clue where he'd left it last!)