Fox News Ends Black Santa Controversy With Gut Check About Race In America
Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly has found herself in the middle of a heated racial debate after insisting that both Santa and Jesus were white in a segment on The Kelly File.
The topic of discussion began concerning a Slate piece written by Aisha Harris that suggested that “America [should] abandon Santa-as-fat-old-white-man and create a new symbol of Christmas cheer.” Her suggestion for the new figure: a penguin.
Why a penguin? Harris explains “making Santa Claus an animal rather than an old white male could spare millions of nonwhite kids the insecurity and shame” of not identifying with a figure that does not look like them.
Kelly called the idea ”ridiculous” and decided that Harris had gone “off the rails” with her column.
“For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white,” Kelly said. “But this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa. But Santa is what he is.”
“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change, you know?” she added. “I mean, Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure, that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa — I just want the kids watching to know that.”
The comments generated plenty of outrage amongst viewers and made its way to a CNN segment where host Don Lemon and guests mocked Megyn Kelly’s comments and found it laughable.
“Where [Kelly] lost me was with the Jesus thing,” Lemon said. CNN senior producer Eric Marrapodi explained that “we don’t really know” the skin color of Jesus, and it’s highly likely he had an “olive complexion” as a Middle Eastern man in the first century.
Ultimately, Lemon and his panel concluded: “What your Santa and your Jesus looks like is entirely up to you.”
Following the backlash, Kelly tried to defend her original statements a few days later by claiming ”humor is what we try to bring to this show, but that’s lost on the humorless.”
“The fact that an off-hand jest I made during a segment about whether Santa should be replaced by a penguin has now become a national firestorm says two things,” Kelly concluded. “Race is still an incredibly volatile issue in this country, and Fox News, and yours truly, are big targets for many people.”
Kelly argues that she is the victim of being misinterpreted and was only agreeing with Aisha Harris’ article by acknowledging Santa’s image in America and making a joke of it.
Watch the original video and the responses below and tell us what you think!
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