Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards...

[kijip]

Today I witnessed two things, related to good ol' Christmas which made me a bit queasy:

-Setting- big charity event in morning. Professional bake sale with donated cookies at a large department store downtown. All money goes to a children's charity. People line up a couple hours early to get dozens of fancy holiday cookies at a nice price. Raises about $12,000 in a hour or two. I witness shoving get get to the tables with the nicest cookies. Including one older woman all but body slamming my disabled mother. Nice. Real nice. Way to raise money for charity and start the holiday off right. x(

-We leave from charity event with gingerbread house and a very excited Toby (going to see Santa!) Have lunch. Go stand in long line and a different department store in Downtown Seattle. A few minutes into the line, the check-in girl walks down the line and announces that there will be a "diverse" Santa in 15 minutes. Suddently we are way ahead in the line as people leave the line because they don't want a picture with a non-white Santa. WTF? Plus- our wait was shorter. Minus- Toby asked why people did not want to see Santa. x( I told him their feet were tired and they needed to go and get a rest . Whatever, their loss. They wasted some hard earned line-standing on a busy Saturday afternoon. IMHO, kids do not care. White santa walks away ho-ho-ho-ing and a few minutes later a black Santa walks up ho-ho-ho-ing and not a single remaining kid in my hearing asked what had happened. ETA: Toby was just relieved that Santa had come back from his break to feed the reindeer (where I had told him Santa was going in the first place, lol) so he could tell him he wanted the "collapsing suspension bridge" for Christmas.

So my holiday is kicking off to a "people are crazy" opinion. :P

[BaileyBea]

That behavior just stinks! People are crazy over the holidays.

I have been searching high and low for a non-white Santa and I haven't found one. I think you were the lucky ones by far.

Nancy

[dr mom]

"IMHO, kids do not care. White santa walks away ho-ho-ho-ing and a few minutes later a black Santa walks up ho-ho-ho-ing and not a single remaining kid in my hearing asked what had happened."

Kids are colorblind where race is concerned - that's one of the most wonderful things about parenting, the opportunity to view the world through a child's eyes, without the cynical filters of adulthood. Good for you and Toby that you are enjoying the beauty and wonder of the Christmas season, and bah humbug to those folks who have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas Spirit. They'll get coal in their stockings for sure...

[cmdunn1972]

>"IMHO, kids do not care. White santa walks away ho-ho-ho-ing
>and a few minutes later a black Santa walks up ho-ho-ho-ing
>and not a single remaining kid in my hearing asked what had
>happened."
>
>Kids are colorblind where race is concerned - that's one of
>the most wonderful things about parenting, the opportunity to
>view the world through a child's eyes, without the cynical
>filters of adulthood. Good for you and Toby that you are
>enjoying the beauty and wonder of the Christmas season, and
>bah humbug to those folks who have forgotten the true meaning
>of Christmas Spirit. They'll get coal in their stockings for
>sure...

What you two are saying reminds me of a story my aunt told me about when my youngest cousin (now in his 20s) was preschool age. While they appreciate diversity, they happen to live in a neighborhood with very few African-Americans. One Sunday, when my cousin was about 3 or 4, an African American family sat in front of them in church. My cousin was fascinated by their young daughter. At one point, he tapped her and asked, "Are you made of chocolate?"

Of course, my aunt (a pro-diversity chocolaholic) was very embarrassed, but she responded, "No, but she's as sweet as chocolate!"

Nice save, I think. :)

[stefani]

Katie, ugh, certainly not very "charitable" people at the charity event.

I am glad that Toby had a "diverse" Santa :-)

Regarding kids being colorblind, like Colleen's story, I think it is not that they do not see the difference, but it is that they do not treat different color people / children differently.

DS is 3 years old, and we were watching "Mother Goose Rocks" sample DVD on the internet. It is for the "Head Shoulder Knees and Toes" song, and at the end, there is a choir where a couple of the women were black. DS said that it was "Priscilla". Priscilla is DS's good friend, 6 years older, who is Haitian (so not "black" but certainly dark colored complexion). So DS could see the color difference, but he loves Priscilla as much as his other friends. She is dubbed DS's cousin, because she had asked his mom if DS could be her cousin. I thought it was the sweetest thing. The two of them play so well together and DS is very very happy when he knows that Priscilla is coming.

P.S. DS himself is half Caucasian half Asian, with Caucasian features and Asian skin coloring and dark brown hair.

[amp]

That's sad. I used to work at a daycamp for emotionally impaired kids and we always did Christmas in July. The best guy to play Santa was our funniest, friendlies, most outgoing counselor, who EVERYONE loved, and you guessed, he is black. The kids didn't even notice. Not one. All they cared about was that Santa was there. It rocked, prticularly for those kids who finally had a Santa that looked more like their family & friends!!

[holliam]

Yipes, Katie. Why do people act like this??

I don't think kids do ignore color to be honest. As a white mama to a brown girlie, I know from so many of my fellow adoptive parents that by 3 or so the kids definitely notice color. Also, I think it's important for kids to recognize differences, especially in families like ours. I'll never know what it's like to be hispanic. Mari will grow up in a predominantly white middle class lifestyle. But the second she is old enough to be out in the world without her white parents, strangers will view her differently than when she is with us.

It sucks that it's like that, but I would actually encourage everyone to talk about race even with young kids so that it is not something "weird". It's not taboo. Kids notice people with short hair, long hair, etc. It's just a difference and if discussed openly I think it makes a lot of difference in the world. Same goes for other things that people are uncomfortable discussing--weight, disabilities, etc. The more open discussions, the more open attitudes.

Holli

[kijip]

FTR, I said that kids did not CARE what color Santa was, not that they did not notice it. Big difference :) Many likely did, but nobody questioned that he was in fact Santa. I was raised in a mixed family with a biological brother who is black so I know very well that kids, like the rest of the world are not blind to color. Still, anyone with a santa suit and a white beard is going to be Santa to most kids (especially very young) in my opinion, regardless of ethnicity.

[julieakc]

Katie:

It always upsets me when I see people being rude at charity events or in relation to a charity drive, etc!


I am about the whitest girl around and I have a picture of me when I was about 4 sitting on a black Santa's lap. I don't remember it, but I'm quite sure it was a non-issue for me...I have a smile on my face in the picture. I am very thankful that my mom is like you...always treated people like people and didn't care about their skin color...raised me to be the same. Toby is a lucky little boy and I'm glad he had a good visit with Santa.

Frankly I'm a little bothered by the fact that they felt they had to make an annoucement about the change, because it really shouldn't matter.

[holliam]

I know, but I do think some kids care. It can be a very hard for some children to realize that they are not the same color as the rest of their family or friends. I've seen it often with adoptive families. Perhaps it's not as much of an issue with biological families since children know how they "fit" with the rest.

Holli

[Jenn98]

People suck. I would have been thrilled to know there was a "diverse" Santa. I'm mostly annoyed that the store announced it - why would they even feel the need to annouce that?!?!?

[kijip]

They don't CARE which *Santa* they see, by and large. Not that skin color does not matter ever or affect lots of experiences and situations. Again, I have spent my entire life in a mixed family and help give workshops on cross cultural communication and racial sensitivity. I am well versed on the issues around not being the same as the people in your family.

It was the *parents*, not the kids, that decided not to get a picture with the black Santa and thinned the line. The kids who saw the Santa come out did not care about his skin color.

[holliam]

I was just expanding the discussion beyond Santa, Katie. I don't think you need to defend yourself. I'm not denying your experience. I was just adding to the discussion beyond Santa, but I realize now that's not what I'm supposed to do in this forum. I rarely venture in here. My apologies.

Holli

[cmdunn1972]

"I'm mostly annoyed that the store announced it - why would they even feel the need to annouce that?!?!?"

Good point, Jen.

[KBecks]

Way to go on the collapsing suspension bridge. Alek is getting the Sodor engine wash and battery powered Salty -- shhh, don't tell!

[squimp]

That was my immediate reaction, too.

It also really does pain me to imagine what those lame-a$$ parents told their kids when asked "why aren't we going to see Santa?". Sad, sad.

[KBecks]

Placing a hand on the offender -- Excuse me? My mother is disabled. Please don't push her.

For the diverse santa I think the staff should not have announced the changeover.

And a musing -- I've only seen white Santas -- do I need to find a non-white Santa to prove to anyone that I'm a good mother?


nak

[KBecks]

I thought Hatians were black desendants of slaves.

[kijip]

No need to apologize. I just did not want anyone to think that what I said about Santa applied to racial relations in general since my experiences in general totally discredit the idea that race does not matter. I would hate to think that people thought I supported the idea that the goal is to be color blind. Because in the end, that is impossible and silly.

[kijip]

Haitians, like most nations populated by the decesdants of European immigrants and African slaves ans mixed with indigenious people, are a pretty big mix.

[KBecks]

Here's what it says at Wikipedia

Haitians are Black 95% of African decent, mulatto and white 5%. A few are of European (French)or Levantine heritage. Despite the predominance of African ancestry, Taino bloodlines are argued to be present since some Tainos mixed with African slaves.

[kijip]

I can't say that there are many people in the Americas of African descent whose ancestors were enslaved that don't have at least some mix of other ethnicities. Consider too that we have a long standing history of considering those of mixed heritage to be black first of all. Mulatto is not a term widely used any longer and holds little meaning as any number of the 95% could be of mixed heritage also. We have few, if any records in most cases, to document those of mixed heritage born into slavery.

[KBecks]

I understand mixing, I'm a white girl who has African - Mississippi slave ancestors as part of the mix. It seems though that many in Haiti identify themselves as black. That's what I'm getting at.

[boys2enough]

>I understand mixing, I'm a white girl who has African -
>Mississippi slave ancestors as part of the mix. It seems
>though that many in Haiti identify themselves as black. That's
>what I'm getting at.

I think in different parts of the world, "being black" means something different. For example, in Great Britain, people of Asian Indian descent are considered to be "black" and are now reclaiming the label "black" as a politicized identity.

I am not arguing with you here. Just thought to throw this other factor into the fray.

Cheers, Lin
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