Mall of America Hires First Black Santa Claus

[enviousdominous]

I'd like to begin this thread with a slight spoiler for the reality challenged:

Spoiler

Santa Claus isn't real

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scratch that; he is real and Ted Dibiase bought him [youtube]FvcEcbvEu5g[/youtube]

So; we all know that for a fun activity during the epic yearly buildup to our celebration of Jesus' birthday, parents like to bring their children to shopping centers with the intention of meeting Santa Claus.

Santa Claus is an omnipotent being who silently shatters the sound barrier over our homes one day a year so he can reinvigorate our affluence. But... what color is he? If you had asked Megyn Kelly this question; she'd likely offer the same opinion that she offered on her show

So, in Slate, they have a piece, Santa Claus shouldn't be a white man anymore. And when I saw this headline, I kind of laugh and so I said, this is so ridiculous yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white Santa. You know? And by the way, for all the kids watching at home, Santa just is white but this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa. But you know, Santa is what he is and just so, you know, we are just debating this because someone wrote about it kids. OK. I want to get that straight. But Jedediah, when I read the piece, the author seems to have -- you know, she's African-American. And she seems to have real pain, at having grown up with this image of a white Santa. And she speaks about it kind of honestly saying, I really didn't understand why that had to be.

Basically she's saying; of course Santa is white, but who cares!? It's a silly issue, just celebrate buying shit. Well Megyn, apparently Santa's race isn't really passé afterall.

A man named Larry Jefferson was hired to play Santa at the Mall of America. Now, we're all aware at this point that Mr. Jefferson is Black, and a Black Santa isn't what we're used to in our Christmas Cards and Coca-Cola commercials. However; according to an NPR interview with Larry Jefferson -- that can be listened to at this link -- the public reception at the Mall was very kind and that he didn't experience any racism first hand.

Obviously Mr. Jefferson doesn't have much of a social media footprint, here's what the inevitable up-crop of racist assholes couldn't keep bottled inside (fair warning; very offensive language in the spoiler):

Spoiler

Now; one point those Appalachian outhouse babies seem to be focused on is that if you're Black then you must be from Africa, and that Santa Claus doesn't live in Africa he lives in the North Pole where White people obviously come from.

I'd like to share a few pictures, here's a picture of Larry Jefferson as Santa Claus:

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And here's a 17th century painting of Saint Nicholas from the Kizhi Monastery in Russia:

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If you ask me, they look pretty damn similar. Hmm. Maybe Larry Jefferson is the one who isn't real and Santa Claus has been playing him!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think Larry Jefferson looks great as Santa. He has his own realistic, white, fluffy beard that's not Duck Dynasty but that just makes it look all the better.

To me, it looks like Santa caught some rays and is a nice healthy shade of brown. That cute little girl sitting on his lap doesn't seem to mind that Santa has a little color to him and that's really what matters. It looks like Jefferson is having fun playing the part and you can almost see a little twinkle in his eye.

Not everything has to be some sort of friggin' racial problem, not everything has to be some sort of political issue. Let kids enjoy themselves while they can, let 'em be kids and bring a little happiness to everyone. If the sight of s a smiling child sitting on Santa's knee is upsetting to someone, whether he's black or white, then they've got too much time on their hands.

 

[klunderbunker]

When I was growing up, my grandmother ran a daycare out of her house. Every year, she would go to the Salvation Army and hire one of the poor people to be Santa for the kids. Twice in a row, it was a rather skinny black man.

Total complaints/issues from the kids: zero.

Why? Because kids don't think about this kind of thing. They know Santa is coming to see them in a few weeks and want nothing more than to sit on his lap and tell him how good they've been so they can get something they want. Why this needs to be some kind of an issue is beyond me, but I'm sure it's something about "well that's not how I remember it as a kid so that means it's wrong."

 

[Spidey Revivey]

If these people have a problem with a fairy tale being black, I can't imagine how they feel about Jesus.

It's stupid. There have been plenty of black men dressed as Santa over the years. Do these fuckdicks live under a rock? Are they really trying to compare Santa to Martin Luther King? Is this where we are in the world, where we bitch about the identity of a fucking Coca Cola invention?

Larry Jefferson looks ideal. He seems authentic in being a symbol of happiness and wonder. If there's really anything to complain about, it's probably the whole "child sits on a stranger's lap at the mall" thing. That I think warrants discussion. This? This is brain decay.

 

[enviousdominous]

Do these fuckdicks live under a rock?

One thing I've observed is that there are two distinct time periods to modern human consciousness, one before social media and one after social media.

I grew up being taught that racism is wrong and that true potential has nothing to do with skin color, but I'd notice odd things here and there. My family was driving through a Black Milwaukee suburb, and my Mom (who had taught me not to judge anyone based on race) was visibly terrified. Now, if you looked out either side of the car, you'd have seen human beings doing suburban human being things. I confronted her, and she assured me that I was only imagining that she was afraid.

Fast forward to my Mom's current obsession with Facebook, and her fast friendship with the denizens of every alt-right online community she could find. It was my Mom's birthday last Tuesday, and I chose not to call her as I've done every year since I left home because I saw a meme she had posted on Facebook. In a nutshell, this meme suggested that all Black people are selfish because they haven't thanked Northern White people for dying for their freedom during the civil war.

My words; my Mom was being one of those Fucksticks, and -- once again --after being confronted by me over the issue she wouldn't relent. They don't so much live under a rock, as they live within the cozy confines of their circle of like-minded dipshits. Instead of exercising critical thought and risking their new-found camaraderie by actively listening to someone with an opposing view, they're resorting to dick-head tactics like accusing someone else of being a racist because they're willing to speak out regarding the racism that was originally shared, thus drowning what could have been a worthwhile conversation into a mess of random pejoratives and pervasive use of "lol" as a cheap means of self-validation.

I look at what social media has done to modern consciousness as the equivalent to a new ice age for those of us who actually value being proven wrong every now and then. Delusions are being validated, and the truth is being condemned as a boring distraction.