Don Roach: Megyn Kelly Needs a Serious Reality Check

Email to a friend Permalink

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Don Roach, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

I was going to let this go, but I just couldn’t. Today, I’d like to tell you a story of a news anchor – if that’s what they go by these days – and her uninformed remarks followed by her equally tone deaf clarification.

It all started with a writer who was concerned that our traditional depiction of Santa Claus as an old, bearded, white man alienated people who were not white…she didn’t mention anything about people who weren’t bearded or old to my knowledge as being potentially offended by ol’ Saint Nick as portrayed (singing) “everywhere you turn”.

Megyn Kelly

The anchor, Megyn Kelly, had a conversation about this where she emphatically stated that Santa just is white…he just is. She also mentioned that Jesus is white too. What’s interesting to me is how quickly times change. Fifty years ago if you suggested that Santa or Jesus was anything but white, you’d have faced more criticism than what Kelly faced in Jon Stewart wondering what kind of kid would be watching a Fox News program. But, times change, morals change, and in the case of Santa and Jesus historical accuracy changes.

You see, Saint Nikólaos, whom Santa Claus is based was a Greek man. Just Google “Greek Man” and you’ll find that what we know as Santa doesn’t quite fit neatly into people who come from Greece. With respect to Jesus, Kelly was even more off-base, as he was a Jew from what we today call “the Middle East”. Again, do a quick Google search and find that many depictions of Jesus simply do not meet with reality.

And still with all of this information readily available Kelly felt emboldened to say Jesus and Santa Claus were ‘white’. Stepping back a minute, does white today only refer to people coming from Western Europe? Correct me if I am wrong but I did think that people from who originate from Greece, Italy, Turkey, and even parts of Russia were considered “white”. I get the skin complexion differences, but aren’t they “white”? I do believe Kelly’s white referred to the Caucasoid version of white but I’ve just spent 350 words talking about the race of a (non) fictional character, Santa Claus.

Nonetheless, the issue is how easily Kelly referred to these characters as something they do not appear to be and that when she was called on it, she called those criticizing her “race baiters”. Problem is she invited criticism by being factually inaccurate in her depictions of Santa and Jesus. That’s not race baiting, that’s just correcting an error. And by playing the victim she did not apologize for being in error or being open to a view that was different from her own.

Folks – I don’t have time for people who make claims, have them proven false, and are unwilling to even consider the possibility that they had the issue wrong. Unfortunately, that’s what Kelly is doing here and what got lost is the conversation around non-white Santas. I’m disappointed because Kelly has a voice in the public sphere and is ignorant enough to not be aware she was wrong about Santa and Jesus and refused to make a full retraction.

None of us are perfect and I’m not expecting anyone to not make a mistake, but you learn about someone’s character when they make mistakes. Do they run and hide? Do they deny, deny? Or do they say, “Oops, my bad”? Kelly has chosen to answer in such a way that shows us that in this instance she refuses to look beyond her own tradition.

Nelson Mandela

We lost Nelson Mandela two weeks ago and it inspired a few conversations about terrorism. Mandela was on the US terror list until 2008 , well over a decade after his release from prison and his stint as South African president.

Referring to the previous news from last week, if we believed as Kelly…Mandela is a terrorist he just is. I’m just kind of joking as I have seen more than a few people call Mandela a terrorist. Mandela, at one point, did believe in the armed resistance of apartheid, Malcolm X once believed the same thing about the oppression facing blacks in this country as well. It’s easy for the oppressors to call the oppressed terrorists and I find it a bit insane that some people have chosen to smear Mandela’s legacy with such…nonsense.

Mandela was the figure who led South Africa away from Apartheid. South Africa is not perfect today, but it is in a far better position today than when Mandela was fighting for his people’s freedom.

John Depetro

Lastly, a few words on all of this Depetro bruhaha? GoLocal reported that he’s been suspended until January and if he does return to the airwaves and you don’t believe he should, tune to another radio station.

If enough people join you, you won’t have to petition his advertisers to leave him, engage in Facebook fights with him and those that do like him, and probably be more effective at getting him off the air for good.

That’s my rant for the week folks. Next week it’s Christmas, happy shopping!

Don can be reached at [email protected] . Don is also on twitter - @donroach34.

---

Related Slideshow: New England Communities With the Most Political Clout 2013

Related Articles

• Don Roach: Can Charlie Baker Appeal to the Masses?
• Don Roach: Don’t Frisk Me, Bro
• Don Roach: Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Obama Diplomacy
• Don Roach: Latinos Are The Key to the Republican Revolution
• Don Roach: 50 Years Later, The Negro Is Free
• Don Roach: Marriage Equality Advocates Don’t Love All Minorities
• Don Roach: Are You Ready To Kill Syrians?
• Don Roach: NSA Warrantless Surveillance The Beginning of the End
• Don Roach: Black People are Getting Lost in the American Shuffle
• Don Roach: Boston Bombing—The Latest Challenge To Our Freedom

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink