If he talks about the La Posada event, I'm all for it. The nearby Mexican restaurant near my home has Papa Noel greeting the kids and the restaurant gives out free food to anyone that comes by that night!
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News Disney plans to include a black Santa Claus at Walt Disney World this year as the company continues its diversity and inclusion program
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
I did some reading...it was a "long and winding road" to now, but at this point, Paramount has distribution rights.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
“Reverse racism”, or what you call “good racism”, isn’t a thing. The history of the world and its institutions would have to be vastly different for there to be any sort of equivalence. We’re way off topic, but if you’re genuinely interested in pondering this issue:
Reverse Racism | The Anti-Racist Educ
www.theantiracisteducator.com
Brian
Well-Known Member
You're right. It's not like there's companies exclusively searching for "diverse candidates," or schools who give preference to "non-white" applicants, or companies who fire executives for being a white male, or businesses charging white customers 2.5x more than their non-white counterparts, or college professors opining that they wish to "take these motherf****** [white people] out." And who can forget the college professor who said: "white people should commit suicide as an ethical act?"“Reverse racism”, or what you call “good racism”, isn’t a thing. The history of the world and its institutions would have to be vastly different for there to be any sort of equivalence. We’re way off topic, but if you’re genuinely interested in pondering this issue:
Reverse Racism | The Anti-Racist Educ
I'd post more examples, but I know it wouldn't change your mind or the minds of any others.
And by the way, it's not reverse racism. There's no such thing. Black people don't have a monopoly on being the target of racism, at least not anymore. Racism towards white people is, in fact, still racism.
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castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
there was no press release
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I mean, sure—the character’s name reflects the fact that she has light skin. My bigger point had to do with the history of representation (looking at the demographics of the Disney princesses exemplifies what I’m getting at).
rk03221
Well-Known Member
This is like when people were upset that Ariel was going to be played by an African American (or Jamaican) woman. Like, mermaids aren’t real lol
champdisney
Well-Known Member
I'm cool with this.
However, I don't see the need for Disney to publicize it. This year at Halloween Horror Nights, The Bride of Frankenstein happened to be black and it was just as fun and exciting.
I know. The Bride of Frankenstein and Santa Claus are two separate entities, with Santa Claus being the bigger deal out of the two. Yet, they are both works of fiction, and in our modern culture, we can have various versions of the same characters.
No need to make it such a big deal. Most of us don't care. We'll enjoy it just as much.
However, I don't see the need for Disney to publicize it. This year at Halloween Horror Nights, The Bride of Frankenstein happened to be black and it was just as fun and exciting.
I know. The Bride of Frankenstein and Santa Claus are two separate entities, with Santa Claus being the bigger deal out of the two. Yet, they are both works of fiction, and in our modern culture, we can have various versions of the same characters.
No need to make it such a big deal. Most of us don't care. We'll enjoy it just as much.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
They haven’t.
champdisney
Well-Known Member
Well, then they purposely leaked it for other platforms to publicize it for them.
That company knows how to do things the slickest and cheapest way but that's another discussion for another time.
The fact remains, any sane person does not care about this. If by chance there are people that do, which there is, that does not qualify them as being racist.
Brian
Well-Known Member
Back to basics, I'm almost certain that Disney will forego any kind of public announcement about this, lest they call attention to the matter and garner less than flattering press and criticism with the right-wing media.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see an official photo or clip with a black Santa in it come up in a company-sponsored social media post about the after hours event or the holiday festivities property-wide. Certainly not with a giant arrow pointing to him; just that mixed in with some other things.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see an official photo or clip with a black Santa in it come up in a company-sponsored social media post about the after hours event or the holiday festivities property-wide. Certainly not with a giant arrow pointing to him; just that mixed in with some other things.
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Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
Steve has already indicated Disney sent him nothing.
champdisney
Well-Known Member
Anybody remember the reports of Kevin Hart in talks with Disney to star as the next Santa Claus in a reboot/remake of The Santa Clause?
www.hollywoodreporter.com
This dates back to 2016! Nothing ever came of it, possibly due to the fact that Kevin Hart is more suitable to portray an elf over Santa...
All jokes aside, this should indicate that Disney has, for a while, been interested in introducing a black Santa Claus into their little magical universe... or whatever it is they call it.
Kevin Hart in Talks to Play Santa Claus in Disney’s ‘Dashing Through the Snow’ (Exclusive)
Will Packer, who worked with Hart on the 'Ride Along' movies and was an exec producer on 'Roots,' is producing with John Jacobs ('Ted').
www.hollywoodreporter.com
This dates back to 2016! Nothing ever came of it, possibly due to the fact that Kevin Hart is more suitable to portray an elf over Santa...
All jokes aside, this should indicate that Disney has, for a while, been interested in introducing a black Santa Claus into their little magical universe... or whatever it is they call it.
Diamond Dot
Well-Known Member
Saint Nicholas was apparently of Turkish origin, so a middle eastern Santa would be the best one.
Quinnmac000
Well-Known Member
The main reason for a multi-cultural Santa is because Santa is an inspirational figure used to instill hope and goodness. Additionally to this day universally skin tone is still associated with "good and bad", having a darker skin Santa being good would be really beneficial for children with darker complexions that have certain complexes.
Because Santa is not real and doesn't have to be real and is already played by so many different people already (mall santas all look different), he is the perfect figure to be the driver for this change. He is international so he already travels the world.
In the origins of Santa his racial identity wasn't talked about just a fat man in a red suit with a white beard who said ho ho ho. It wasn't until the 19th century and Coca Cola advertisements in the 30s that the modern day Santa came about.
Because Santa is not real and doesn't have to be real and is already played by so many different people already (mall santas all look different), he is the perfect figure to be the driver for this change. He is international so he already travels the world.
In the origins of Santa his racial identity wasn't talked about just a fat man in a red suit with a white beard who said ho ho ho. It wasn't until the 19th century and Coca Cola advertisements in the 30s that the modern day Santa came about.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
The country we now called Turkey had no Turks in it before the eleventh century. St. Nicholas was not Turkish.
Budd
Active Member
I vaguely remember seeing a documentary awhile ago on National Geographic or something, about the origins of St. Nicholas. Basically he was a real tough guy who helped spread the gospel of Christianity, and would sometimes beat up mockers and blasphemous folk. He wasn't the jolly giver of gifts we know today. I'm not sure the name of the Christmas documentary this segment was included in, but it was hosted or narrated by Kirk Cameron. I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere. I found it interesting but not sure how much of it I buy into.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
I think I saw the same one
Robbiem
Well-Known Member
St Nicholas was actually a Greek Orthodox priest in what is now Turkey. Traditionally europeans celebrated his saint day on December 6th and this is still a tradition in some places like the Netherlands and parts of Germany where he leaves candy for children, often in their shoes. In these countries on December 25th the Christ child visits good children and perform a role to santa, although some places also have ‘black peter’ an evil spirit who leaves coal for bad children (this is a whole other can of equality worms I don’t want to open here).
In Henry the Eighth’s England the idea of Father Christmas developed because St Nicholas day wasn’t celebrated after the founding of the Church of England. He was a jolly, chubby man who embodied the ‘spirit of goodwill’ he was revived in the Victorian era when the modern Christmas developed - Dickens Spirit of Christmas present is an example.
Thomas Nast in Harpers magazine in the late 19th century used these to create what we would think of as santa which then evolved with other more commercial ideas (Coke ads, greeting cards etc) to create what people now think of as Santa Claus so he really does belong to most of the western world.
interestingly there has been a long history of afro carribean santas which the article below summarises
The secret history of black Santas
America's biggest shopping mall hosted its first African American Father Christmas this year - but black Santas have been around for decades and even played a role in the civil rights movement.
www.bbc.co.uk
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Father Christmas was already around by then:
Father Christmas - St. Nicholas Center
Everything about St Nicholas: stories, customs, crafts & more.
www.stnicholascenter.org