Black Santa, Native American Nativity scenes and Christmas movies with different cast become regular draws around the holiday season as the demographics of the US change.
Why it matters: Advertisers, shopping malls, and movie studios have finally embraced different holiday photos in a national race-based bill and as communities of color continue to claim Christmas as their own celebration.
- Public events featuring Black Santa have grown from a handful in 2016 to more than 200 this year, even during the pandemic, said Vivian Walker, founder of the Black Santa Directory.
- More vacation listings in the US and UK feature diverse families.
- Artists sell Holy Family nativity scenes as Latino immigrants or as Jemez Pueblo members for an adobe house in New Mexico.
Driving the news: A black family in North Little Rock, Ark., Received a racist letter last month in response to the posting of a black Santa on their front yard. White neighbors responded by placing Black Santa decorations on their own lawn in solidarity.
- A United Methodist Church in Claremont, California recently built a Black Lives Matter themed nativity scene. Last year, the same church had a nativity scene with Baby Jesus as a caged Latino migrant child.
- This year’s Lifetime TV movie, “A Sugar & Spice Holiday,” is one of the first major Christmas movies with a predominantly Asian ensemble. Netflix’s new Christmas hit “Jingle Jangle” centers on an all-black cast from the Victorian era.
What they say: “Black Santa builds self-esteem for black children, but also appeals to parents of children of different races,” says Dr. Jihan Woods, a Dallas-based doctor and founder of the Find Black Santa app.
- Woods said the Black Lives Matter protests this summer have made people of color more comfortable by displaying various vacation icons reflecting their experiences.
- “If this is us, it has to look like us,” said Alexandro Jose Gradilla, professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at California State University, Fullerton.
Between the lines: Scholars say the depiction of Santa Claus as a white man came about because he was a European importer, a mix of the Dutch Sinterklaas and the British folklore character Santa Claus.
- Images of a light-skinned Jesus were popularized by Renaissance European artists, who were later transferred to America.
Yes but: Santa is also associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Greek bishop in present-day Turkey, who was probably a black man.
- The historical Jesus was a Palestinian Jewish man. Scholars say that Jesus and his mother, Mary, likely had dark skin and dark curly hair.
- “Interestingly, as people of color reclaim their figures to be a reflection of themselves, these figures return to what they really looked like,” said Laura Elena Belmonte, a University of New Mexico at Chicana and Chicano Studies professor. who studies religion.
The bottom ilne: Walker said images like Black Santa and various Baby Jesus are primarily for adults. Children will jump into the mind no matter what figures look like.
- ‘Children see a black Santa and they only see Santa. They run to him, sit on his lap and then the time has come. ‘