Obama and Christmas

Hi everyone,

Just the topic of a curious conversation that I had last night during dinner. The other day while walking thru a local Lowes hardware store, for of all things birdseed, I had to pass the Christmas section. While doing so I noticed that almost an entire aisle was dedicated to African American Santa’s and Baby Jesus, angels and such.
I’m guessing that this is not a new thing, though I guess that I must not be as well informed as I should be. Another thing I want cleared up right now…This is not about race, creed or any of that. Historically Santa has been the jolly old white guy. Why should Santa be “White” and not the color of your ethnic background? Do you think that there is a Japanese or Chinese Santa? Maybe a Polynesian Santa?? Well, why the hell not. It makes sense to me.

The topic of the conversation was this…Is there more “Black” Santa’s and “Black” Baby Jesus’s this year on the shelves because Obama won the election??
I must admit that I dismissed this as one of those “come on, you gotta be kidding me” things, but the more that we talked about it.....

Here's another question that came up..With His father being from Kenya, do you think that their family has a "black Santa" as part of their holidays? Do you think that the Obama seriously celebrates Christmas with the supposed Muslim rumblings we've all heard about??

I guess that I really don’t have an informed and intelligent answer to these questions and that’s why I’ve posted it to all of you for your thoughts on this.

To the mods, if I put this in the wrong place, my apologies.

Not being American, I can't really comment on the "Black" ornaments you speak of. I live in a city where about 3% is black. But I'm color blind anyway.

To me, every family celebrates the holiday differently and to their own degree of happiness and comfort, so why not create ornaments and decorations that reflect that?
Seriously, since Santa himself is completely a fictional character, why not create him anyway you see fit? Our current image is thanks to Coca- Cola, and nothing else.
Personally, I think this is long overdue. We live in a multi-cultural society, and it's high time we all start acting like it, and being accepting of it.

Originally posted by wolf241e
Do you think that there is a Japanese or Chinese Santa? Maybe a Polynesian Santa?? Well, why the hell not. It makes sense to me.

It makes sense to me, too! I never really thought about it. We don't celebrate Christmas, so I don't go down the Christmas aisles, but next time I go to the store, I'm going to check it out. I don't ever remember seeing a black Santa but it would be a sign that the US is recognizing its diversity.

With His father being from Kenya, do you think that their family has a "black Santa" as part of their holidays?

Obama's father left when he was 2. I have no idea what they did in those first 2 years.

Do you think that the Obama seriously celebrates Christmas with the supposed Muslim rumblings we've all heard about??

I think he probably has a subdued celebration compared to most. There was a story that they don't exchange gifts for Christmas because they don't celebrate the more commercial aspect of the holiday, but celebrate the religious and family aspects.

He did put out a Christmas Greeting