The history of Santa Claus is inherently racist. I say 'inherently' because its origin is, as a matter of fact racist. It would seem that if such is the case, we celebrate racism when we celebrate Christmas. Hence, I'm not taking part in an inherently racist celebration ever again.
I was raised in the Dutch tradition of celebrating Christmas, and where I come from it has everything to do with Sinterklaas (notice the similarity between Santa-Claus and Sinterklaas?). Importantly, the term 'sinterklaas' does not break into parts with any significance; so it is a proper name and thereby denotes that which its various translations denote. In other words, whatever a Dutch person means by 'sinterklaas' is referred to by colonizers of turtle island when we use 'Santa Claus.' Of course, it is important to note that the history of Santa Claus is steeped in other folklore, and one might argue that given its various relations to Saint Nicholas of Myra, and Odin, etc., one cannot tie Santa Claus to the inherently racist practices of the inherently racist Dutch. But it seems to me that while the good side of Christmas is tied to the patron Saint--perhaps in a desperate effort to evade the oprressive bad-side--'Christmas' itself, that is, Santa Claus himself and all the other bullshit that comes along with him, wouldn't be what it is commonly recognized as without the practices commonly associated with sinterclaas. Again, to repeat, Santa Claus just means sinterclaas; so: what is it about Christmas that makes Christmas Christmas?
We have the stockings, and the tree; we have the gifts left for Santa, and the reciprocity; but the big haul has always been the return--and that's precisely what any fat priveleged white kid wants.--Lots of loot. In the tradition, it was often the case that various treats were left out for the horse, or as the story aged, the reindeer; but later, it became milk and cookies, treats for Santa (with nothing, of course, for Santa's labor). All this, of course, in return for the latest bit of junk that no one needs anyways. However, the tradition also contains a bad side. Good little kiddies are rewarded with good/ies while bad kids weren't rewarded at all, and were thereby presented with a lack thereof. Perhaps, it is this part of the tradition that contains the essence of Christmas: goodness is rewarded; badness condemned, or at least threatened as a result if kids choose to be bad. (So be good for goodness sake!)
The lesson of "You better watchout" is self-policing: good kids get great hauls; bad kids will get nothing. (Of course the badest of the privileged kids still get more haul than the best of the poorest; but White Santa doesn't smile on the kids in third world, in fact Santa's elves are the good kids of the third-world.) But I want to get to a more pressing point, besides obvious racism contained in the very idea of 1st world nations. (Fuck Borders)
I mentioned above that sinterklaas means Santa Claus; so we can ask literally: what is it about sinterklaas that makes Christmas racist? The Dutch referred to the punisher of bad kids as Black Peter. In fact, Black Peter was the labor I referred to above. Black Peter is the reindeer. Black Peter is the punishment of bad kids. Black Peter is Santa Claus' slave. Black Peter is the threat. The sad part is that even if Black Peter didn't take any kids back to Spain, and even if Black Peter didn't beat any kids for being bad, but instead handed out gifts galore, all the good credit would be given back the that fat white fuck. (Again, Santa Claus was praised as Saint Nicholas of Myra--the good, while Black Peter was the excuse (the reason) for not recieving loads of presents (or any at all). Why didnt I get any presents this year Mommy?--Well, you see there are these others that come from other countries and steal our resources.) It is not without a bit of obviousness that the very idea of Black Peter is presently being debated in Holland (http://home.comcast.net/~majerus-collins/sinterklaas-20091207bdfgf45326865467542567.htm) But simply masking the racism with a new mask will not pull up the root of racism. We may have to also abolish Christmas for that.
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