Santa Claus, Do you Ever Come to the Ghetto?
This song seems to express emotions of sadness. Santa never comes to the ghetto and this has an important message seeing as how it reflects how children may be feeling. He sings about what is occurring when it comes to not having anything and that Santa never brings anything to them. Santa is this figure of happiness that the media is picturing, but they aren’t experiencing these things that the media is talking about. Shedding light onto how people living in different situations experience this holiday differently than other may be experiencing them. This is an important factor to notice since in this class we find it important to see things from another perspective, especially if it is the opposite of ours. Listening to “Santa Claus, Do you Ever Come to the Ghetto” opens your eyes and ears to what he is relaying through his message, a differing experience of Christmas experience. This song speaks for those who live in the ghetto, neighborhoods deemed “not nice” by the eyes of society. And Christmas promotions never show Christmas in areas like such. We see Christmas at the nice white picket fenced houses with the big tree, traditional lights, red stockings and big/multiple presents piled up under their tree. He is singing about these neighborhoods. The ones that Santa wouldn’t visit because he puts the other neighborhoods first. He preaches how the children living in these neighborhoods don’t get to experience Santa the way the other kids do.
Lyrics.
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so
Santa Claus, will you ever come to the ghettos
Santa Claus, we would like to see where your reindeers go.
All year long we’ve been beating down crime
How do we survive through those hard times
We aint gonna fight, we never gonna fuss
But where are the presents that you brought for us.
Santa Claus, do you ever come to the ghettos
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so
Poor people wanna know, Mr. Claus
Santa Claus, will you ever come to the ghettos
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so.
We see you in the papers,
you were on TV giving out presents to some pickney
Wondering what happen to people like we.
Is it because we don’t have no chimney?
Santa Claus, do you ever come to the ghettos
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so
Santa Claus, will you come to the ghetto
Santa Claus, we would like to see where your reindeers go.
We see you in the papers,
you’re on TV giving the toys to some pickney
Wondering what’s happening to poor people like we.
Is it because we no have no chimney?
Is because we nuh have big money
Santa Claus, do you ever come to the ghetto
The ghetto yutes wanna know Mr. Claus
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so
Santa Claus, will you ever come to the ghetto
Santa Claus, hey santa claus.
A me say papa him a bawl say no money inna walet
Mama she a cry, hungry print pon har forehead
Cousin him a bawl say him and poverty married
Him nuh eat no food from last week
Plus the little pickney dem a bawl
Santa never bring the sorrel
Never bring no present
Never bring no barrel
Three stoogies weh inna parliment a quarrel
Santa Claus, do you ever come to the ghettos
Santa Claus, do you ever wonder why we suffer so
Santa Claus, do you ever, do you ever
Santa Claus, Santa Fraud
“Kids who come from wealthier families maybe see Santa Claus in a totally different way than the non-wealthy kids.”
– Anderson of Powdersville
“He is not Saint Nicholas, the Christian figure known for bearing gifts and advocating for the poor, but more aptly, some say, the Patron Saint of Capitalism.”
– Eric Connor
This article really shows the differences between social class and how they may effect children at a young age. We are all led to believe if we are good, we get something and if we are bad we get punished. But what isn’t explained are the differences in money. How a great kid can receive clothing as their present, and another great kid can receive expensive toys/games as their present. This can create hostility and lack of understanding amongst kids at school. Not to mention how a child might be sweet and nice all year, but their bully gets “better” presents then they do. How would that make the child feel? Christmas is a sweet family holiday but there are many loops where it fails to provide stability and the message that it is supposed to spread.
If we look at what Christmas has turned into. The media promotes all these presents – which happen to be amazingly expensive nowadays. And for some people this is an unrealistic Christmas that they won’t be able to experience. The media doesn’t really promote the loving family eating home made food experience. It promotes something that is generally fake and unrealistic. When I think of Christmas I think of people trying to buy presents and driving in an aggressive manner to get to the stores. Rushing to get everything ready for their families. I live in California. Christmas is chaos out here.
My family is quite small so we don’t have Christmas traditions. I have spent the last few Christmases with my boyfriends family and attending their events. When my grandpa and great grandma moved out here form Tennessee, we had spent Christmas with them. Making gingerbread houses, eating out at a restaurant of my great grandmas choosing. Very simple and nothing too big. Of course we would exchange the gifts we got for each other. I personally am not a Christmas fanatic like a lot off people, I do enjoy the lights and decorations. My mom is a huge Christmas fan, her birthday is 5 days before Christmas so December tends to be an expensive month. We have weened away from expensive gift giving to going to nice restaurants. Such as tiki bars. My parents are big tiki collectors so mom likes to find new bars we haven’t gone to.
This contrasts with the song and article because I had what some people would consider an “ideal” Christmas. My experience of Christmas is not the Christmas experience these medias described. One described a Christmas of sadness and crave for Santa to visit them. And the other described a Christmas based on money and children facing the falsehoods presented by this holiday. I had a Christmas full of toys when I was young, and I mostly thought I got so many gifts because I was an only child so my parents only needed to focus on me. These two medias made me realize that the Christmas I hav experienced isn’t what everyone else gets. Some people may have way better Christmases, like going on a big vacation to somewhere nice. And some others may have worse Christmases, with no family, no Christmas meal or presents. But every family has their own tradition, and ones experience we may see as sad – may not be sad for them and might be exactly how they wish to spend their Christmas holiday.
Reading the article really opened my eyes to how Christmas isn’t all jolly like how its said to be. I never considered how children may see Christmas as something that isn’t enjoyable and instead bring disappointment and confusion. All I saw Christmas for was that it was a day where I used to get presents, and I never saw it through the family perspective because well I didn’t have one to experience it with. Yes I had my mom and dad, but I never had the “My grandparents are coming over for Christmas”, “I get to see my cousins”. Those are the things I used to hear at school. Did it bother me? Sometimes I think. But now I have people who I spend it with and I don’t care that it’s not a lot like what these ads promote. Christmas is another day in the year where I can appreciate those who I love.
Santa Claus has been used as an ad for multiple different products. Coca-Cola having the longest affiliation with Santa Claus. The figure of Santa has been used to promote the desire to buy certain products. Especially with children, kids see Santa and instantly want presents.
St. Nicholas acted in secrecy with his generosity, and this act of selflessness and kindness, amongst others, has now morphed into a surveillance and fear-based tradition that can harm parents’ credibility as well as a child’s ability to decipher the truth.
Empathetic Insights.
People with different backgrounds include differences in income and home living. People with less money are unable to live the Christmas life that we see in the movies or in those nicely/heavily decorated neighborhoods. That is the ideal Christmas that we see, but not everyone is able to experience that. And there is also the people who have had a traumatic or upsetting event happen on or around Christmas that ends up tarnishing their view of it. Which means that as they go through life, they won’t feel excited for this holiday like how others do. The holiday has no cheerful meaning for them.
With all the countries around the world, there are different traditions that come with this holiday. That includes different foods, songs and family traditions that follow. Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Christ.
It seems universally experienced that Christmas has to be this perfect holiday with the best gifts, most delicious meal. Which overall seems too expensive. Christmas is supposed to be about good faith, family love and togetherness. But now its about the big corporations making a huge buck off of all the shoppers.
Other Traditions
Poland: Carp, dried fruit, cabbage dishes, and beet and mushroom soup. Before the meal, the Christmas wafer is also shared, as wishes for peace and fortune are shared around the room.
Germany: A meal of fish and potato salad. On December 5, kids set out their boots in front of the bedroom doors hoping St. Nicholas will leave them a present.
Sweden: The Yule Goat. Each year, the massive goat is constructed in the same spot. Fans can even watch a livestream from the first Sunday of Advent until after the New Year when it’s taken down.
Iceland: Each night before Christmas, Icelandic children are visited by the 13 Yule Lads. They children place their shoes by the windows, in the morning, they’ll either have received candy or be greeted with shoes full of rotten potatoes.
Citations.
Connor, Eric. “The Patron Saint of Capitalism: Parents Dream of a Less-Commercialized Christmas.” The Greenville News, The Greenville News, 17 Dec. 2018, www.greenvilleonline.com/story/opinion/2018/12/15/how-old-santa-claus-history-santa-claus/2221082002/.
Scastanuela. “Christmas and Its Multicultural Traditions around the World – Culturs: Cross-Cultural Identity Media.” CULTURS, 18 Dec. 2019, www.cultursmag.com/christmas-and-its-multicultural-traditions-around-the-world/.
Regan Gray
Hi Madison.
I like how you included a section that shares other countries’ Christmas traditions. I also believe that Christmas should celebrate family, love, and togetherness. I have also never liked the idea of Santa Claus and found it to be a manipulative way to get people to spend money and for parents to get their children to behave. I think that the perception that the “ideal” Christmas is filled with presents, food, and songs should be re-evaluated for what it is for a majority of people. I agree that Christmas and the idea of Santa can give kids the wrong idea and cause confusion. When Some kids received few presents even though they tried their best to be good, and other kids who were bullies received many presents. That can most definitely confuse a child and even create negative feelings. towards the holiday.
Madison Sawyer
Christmas should divert towards more family based ideals, but that doesn’t seem all to realistic seeing as how much these companies make off of selling Christmas gifts, decorations etc. Its a big seller and people love buying into it. I personally think that the way Christmas has been for quite some time (buying expensive presents) wont go away. Parents will always want to spoil their kids with love and for this holiday, gifts. I enjoy my way of Christmas, not huge in any way and more based around me and my family doing things we like. Christmas is just going to be one of those holidays where people do as they see fit.