Perhaps it is part of the African American experience, part of the Jungian collective unconscious to relate to this concept of Big Brother, watching. Big Brother is known by another name – The Man. And throughout the African’s history on this continent, The Man was there, watching him, torturing him, controlling him with fear.

But at Christmas time in the USA, despite the images we see on the TV, Santa Claus does not look like The Man, nor is he, nor will he ever be The Man. And all that stuff about him watching us and judging us and deciding who’s naughty and who’s nice, that’s just another conspiracy theory designed to bring fear and control over the unsuspecting masses.

Santa’s motives are pure. He brings and he gives out of sheer altruism, something that does not exist in mere mortals. There’s no coal in your stockings, unless you need some extra warmth and fuel for your fire.

Last week I visited the US Post Office in a mostly black neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Everything was decorated for Christmas, happy and festive. But then I spotted the white Santa pretending to fit in by playing the jazz saxophone. Despite who Santa really is, this fake little doll was there to remind us that we were in a government facility, in which there is no escaping The Man.

Believe!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8th, 2007 at 9:51 am and is filed under meanderings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.