It has finally happened. Father Christmas is the latest victim of the cancel-culture mob.
Brighton and Hove Museums has described Father Christmas as “too white” and suggested he should abandon his naughty list.
In a bid to “decolonise” Father Christmas, the museum published a blog post offering a series of recommendations. These include Santa working alongside his elves “as equals” in the name of equality, and even undergoing a sex change on the basis that a “Mother Christmas” would help tackle the patriarchy.
According to the post, Father Christmas must also abandon the naughty-and-nice list, described as a “Western binary” that teaches children that the “coloniser has the power to judge all people”. The blog adds: “For many children, the story of Santa Claus is as much a part of Christmas as gifts and Christmas dinner. But the tale of a white, Western Santa who judges all children’s behaviour has problems.”
For many, recasting Father Christmas as a white supremacist — let alone a white saviour — is a new and bewildering development.
The post goes further, questioning Santa’s electoral mandate to judge children’s behaviour across cultures. “But who decided Santa should be the judge of children’s behaviour in every community?” it asks. “How can he assess, for example, Indigenous children practising their own cultural traditions?”
“Told like this,” the blog continues, “the story presents Santa as the ultimate authority of all societies. This asks us to accept colonial assumptions of cultural superiority.”
Conversely, does the insinuation that children from non-Western cultures cannot be “nice” not render the museum’s position hypocritical?
The blog post — and whoever authored it — now looks to be a strong contender for “Grinch of the Year”.
The General Secretary and founder of the Free Speech Union criticised the museum as “po-faced”, saying: “I don’t think children in non-Christian countries are going to object when Santa pops down their chimney to give them a present.
“Is this museum suggesting they should leave a note saying, ‘Sorry, this is a decolonised fireplace and white supremacists dressed in red aren’t welcome’? If so, it should rename itself the Right-On and Po-Faced Museum.”
While the museum’s decision to publish the blog may be laughable, it also points to a more troubling trend: the capture of cultural institutions by progressive, authoritarian ideology.
The piece even appears to flirt with a communist revolution at the North Pole, calling for Santa to be placed “in the workshop with the elves” to “show him and the elves as equals”. In a plea for greater diversity, the museum argues for a greater inclusion of elves from all around the world. Elves of the world, unite!
The blog post was originally written in 2023 as part of the museum’s “Culture Change” work, which includes encouraging parents to “challenge the colonial gaze”. A museum spokesperson later said: “The piece about Father Christmas was intended to prompt reflection rather than prescribe how anyone should celebrate Christmas. It looks at how familiar stories are shaped, whose perspectives they centre, and how they might be explored when we include viewpoints beyond a white Western perspective.
“Encouraging curiosity, critical thinking and conversation is a core part of museum education. Presenting different ways of understanding cultural stories, including festive ones, is part of that work, and people are free to agree or disagree.”
The story emerged in the same week that many realised our favourite Christmas sing-alongs may soon fall victim to the banter ban, as employers seek to avoid legal action from employees offended by festive lyrics.
It seems we are now governed by a nation of Scrooges.
Father Christmas is a white supremacist who needs to be decolonised.
Read more in The Telegraph.