The Santa Controversy

A blogger named Aisha Harris has proposed that, in an effort to be racially neutral, Santa Claus should get a makeover.  Ms. Harris proposed that Dear Santa should now be Penguin Claus.  Yep, that's right, Penguin Claus!

Dear Ms. Harris, Santa is not a penguin.

Our modern depiction of Santa Claus originates from a Catholic Saint, Saint Nicholas, who was born in what is now modern day Turkey.  He was most certainly a white man.  That historical fact cannot be changed.  He is still celebrated with a feast day.  While you may find his depiction as a jolly old white man offensive to people of color every where, I am sure that Catholics would find his depiction as a penguin equally offensive.

Ms. Harris, you make the point that our modern day Santa is not real and is not Saint Nicholas.  That they are different and not interchangeable.  You could not be more incorrect.

Santa Claus, as we know him in the United States, came to us from the Dutch who referred to him as Sinter Klaas.  Sinter Klaas is a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas, the Dutch language name for the Saint. Our modern day image of Santa Claus begins with a poem written by an Episcopal Minister, Clement Clarke Moore, and embodied in a political cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast in 1881.  Santa Claus in all of these depictions is a white man.

Pundits, most notably on Fox news, have taken issue with your request and inartfully declared Santa is White.  As a result, your little blog has brought you some notoriety.

But your suggestion that we ditch Santa and embrace Penguin Claus is offensive not because it is racist but because it belittles hundreds of years of American religious and secular holiday traditions.  Santa simply is NOT a penguin.

The spirit of Santa can of course be any race.  In fact, the spirit of Santa or the embodiment of Santa at your local mall, can be played by anyone, of any color, of any faith, of any sexual orientation, even of both genders.  This is America after all.  The spirit of Santa Claus should reflect who we are as a populace.  On this I agree, but again we are NOT penguins.

Perhaps you've never read the New York Sun Times response to Virginia O'Hanlon written in 1897.  You should read it.  It is a wonderful piece on the spirit of Santa Clause.  I read it to my daughter when she was seven and asking if Santa was real.  I believe the answer to your ridiculous suggestion that Santa be depicted as a penguin is in the words of that famous letter:

 "Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy."

You see, Ms. Harris, Penguins do not embody the same spirit of love, generosity and devotion which   humans do.  Therefore, it is imperative in a culture that becomes less loving, generous, and devoted to one another on a daily basis that Santa remain real.  It is imperative that Santa's spirit of love remain exclusively human.