Megyn Kelly, Santa, St. Nicolas, and Jesus
You’ve likely heard about the Megyn Kelly (of Fox News) flap. Kelly reacted to an article in Slate by Aisha Harris that argued that Santa should not be portrayed as a white man anymore because African American children feel left out of the tradition.
Kelly responded, in part:
“For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white. But this person is maybe just arguing that we should also have a black Santa. But, you know, Santa is what he is, and just so you know, we’re just debating this because someone wrote about it, kids.”
Kelly went on to say that, “Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change.”
Then, she injected Jesus into the conversation.
“Jesus was a white man, too, but He was an historical figure, that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa. I just want kids to know that, too. But how do you just revise it in the middle of the legacy, the story, and change Santa from white to black.”
Of course, Kelly’s mention of Santa as real was tongue-in-cheek so that any children watching would not have their belief spoiled.
So, there’s the gist of the story.
My Take
First, I’m not anti-Megyn Kelly. I happen to like Fox News.
However, I have a few problems with what Kelly said…
1. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, born of a virgin, was a Middle-Eastern Jewish person, not white.
2. Jesus came to die for all humanity, not just for white folks.
3. Kelly confounds and confuses the myth of Santa with the real St. Nicolas.
4. The real St. Nicolas, upon whom the myth of Santa is based, was from Greece/Turkey. In historical images he is portrayed as a darker-skinned Mediterranean, not as a white northern European. So, in actuality, a white northern European Santa changes the story 
in the middle, revising the actual legacy. So who is really controlling or reinventing the historical legacy in their own image?
See the image to the right for a digital reconstruction of what forensic scientist believe the real St. Nicolas looked like. Here’s the source.
The second image is the Russian icon image of St. Nicolas. Here’s the source. 
You be the judge of how much the real St. Nicolas looked like a white northern European…
5. It is easy for privileged people, in this case a white Fox News person, to ignore how ethnic portrayals can make others feel. At least a little empathy and understanding from Kelly would have helped.
Join the Conversation
What do you think? Was Megyn Kelly on target, off target, insensitive?
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I believe Kelley was reacting in part to what she perceived as an attempt to re-invent a traditional holiday symbol. I think it also could have been a knee-jerk reaction by someone who is probably fed up with what she perceives as the politically correct, multi-cultural agenda. As a lawyer and news commentator she overstepped her bounds when she wandered into the historical arena. But if she is going to apologize for her inaccurate assessment of Saint Nicholas and Jesus, Fox should also make Bill O’Reilly apologize for his horribly inaccurate tome: “Killing Jesus”
Good explanation with resources. And…she probably should not have brought Jesus into this and left it alone at Santa. We wouldn’t want these kiddos to make a mythical connection later on about Jesus !
What color are dragons? Any color you want! Same with Santa, in my opinion, since neither is real.
As stated, St. Nicholas and Jesus are real people with real DNA. And they ain’t white.
I don’t know what Kelley was trying to prove with this, except maybe that she sees only two colors, black and white. I hope she has realized her error.
For years there has been a discussion of whether or not Jesus is white. I think this article says it best, Jesus is a middle-eastern Jewish person. Anyone who knows history would understand that Jesus would therefore have dark skin.
However, I understand that Santa is a mytholocical caracter based off a real person. But We have taken Santa so far away from who St. Nicolas was. Santa should be depicted in the hearst of the children how they see fit. If in the African culture they want Santa to dress in African clothing and have an appearance of an African man, that is how it should be. Santa should be a symbol of love, caring and giving, just like the real St. Nicolas was. It does not matter whether he is red, yellow, black or white. It only matters that he represents the spirit of Christmas. Let Santa be who the children want him to be and remember that Christmas is about the gift of Christ.