You're listening to Comedy Central, welcome to see Pea Time, the only show that's for the culture. Today we discussed black people and the joyful festive holiday of Christmas. So let's start with slavery, because remember, black people weren't celebrating Christmas before that. None of us were on the boat ride over here going follow la la la, death the holes.
But once they were in America, many slaves begin to see Christmas for the blessing that it was a chance to escape while the owners were away for the holidays. The great abolitionist Harriet Tubman even used Christmas to free her three brothers, which may sound good to you, but if I let my sister free me around Christmas, I'd never hear the end of it. Every year should be like, oh,
thank you so much for the slippers. This is almost as good as the gift I got you last year, not shackles, and then I'd be like, shut up, Bernice, you ruin the holidays. Of course, music is an important part of Christmas, and black people have been covering and improving the classics for years, like let it snow by Boys two Men, or do you hear what I hear? By me? Here's a sample. Do you hear what I hear?
Sounds like oppression? But some holiday music is tainted with the history of racism, like the classic Jingle Bells, which at first just seems like an innocent song about reckless driving, but back in eighteen fifty seven, its first public performance was part of a minstrel show song by a bunch of white dudes in black face. It's a terrible legacy, and that's why every time I see a one horse
open slate, I key that ship for justice. But it is also important to recall the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Santa breakthrough for black Santas was in nineteen when one of Harlem's biggest department stores hired the country's first black Santa Claus, which surely was a distraction for customers who didn't know what was going on. I'm sure they was all like, who's that nigging the red jacket talking to
my child? After that, Black Santas took a seventy year old until two years ago when Larry Jefferson became the first black center at the White ass Mall of America. A victory for our people, mostly because Larry used his employee discount to get all the black people he knew off a hero indeed, But Chris Kringle would be nothing without the gifts he brings, the toys. Without the toys sent it's just a fat bastard that broke in your house.
And for decades, manufacturers didn't even consider making toys for black children. And when they finally did, some of them would just paint white dolls black, like this Willie Talk doll. Look at that looks like will They got thrown into a bonfire. But the great thing about kids is they'll like whatever you give them, because children are not very intelligent. Like my favorite toy when I was a youngster was Mr Chomper Chop. Oh. I played with Mr Chopper Chop
for hours. I make him bobble, I make him talk to me, lose all his teeth. Took the forty five years to realize this Mr Chomper Chump was a stapy. A good friend, Cornell West, told me that that's all the time we have for today. I'm Roy Wood Jr. This has been CP time and remember before the culture make you put my website up at the end so people can order a compact disc in the six watch the daily Show weeknights at eleven tenth Central on Comedy
Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast