CARLTON FLETCHER: Cancel culture strikes again … this time it’s ‘Jingle Bells’

If you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego, I believe you’d be surprised to see that you’ve been blind.

— Joe South

It’s going to happen, so I guess we should have been prepared: Someone is always going to do everything they can to take the joy out of Christmas.

I nominate Joy (ironic?) Reid as this season’s Grinch of the Year after she informed the world that Christmas favorite “Jingle Bells” is racist.

It seems Reid didn’t have much to do after being fired by MSNBC, so she – for reasons known only to her – did some research into “Jingle Bells” and determined it was racist. Her reason? People who used to perform the song did so in black-face. (For those who’ve been living in another reality for quite some time, black-face is when whites darken their faces, usually to make fun of black people.)

I started singing “Jingle Bells” around the time of the first Christmas I was able to use my limited vocabulary to start communicating vocally (and, yes, that was quite some time ago). And while I never developed into an even adequate singer, I can honestly say that at no singing of this Christmas tune have I ever equated it with racist tendencies.

(I’ll admit here that those of us in Ms. Foley’s Spanish I and II classes at Irwin County High School did, during an assembly, sing the song in Spanish. (I believe “casta belles” was the primary phrase here, but I’m probably wrong … in all honesty, we didn’t really care … sorry, Foley.)  never heard of anyone – including Hispanic-speaking people – being offended, but I’ll admit that no one of any race, creed, color or nationality would have recognized our attempt at Spanish “Jingle Bells” anyway.)

Reid’s proclamation stirred up all kinds of back-and-forth on social media, which is no doubt exactly what she wanted. How else does an unemployed muckraker stay relevant in an age when even the most important news stories have a shelf-life of about 16 hours before the next big calamity – real and/or imagined – gets everyone stirred up?

Since Reid’s proclamation, all of these imminent professors, scholars, social justice warriors and people who proclaim that they’re experts on things because they looked them up on Wikipedia have weighed in on the “Jingle Bells” conspiracy theory. It seems most of them, afraid that calling BS on Reid’s meaningless proclamation will bring down the wrath of the “progressives” who make up many of the trolls on social media, join Reid in condemning “Jingle Bells” because some backwards-thinking hicks once performed the song in black-face.

I may be well-seasoned, but I understand all too well the sensitivity of people whose ancestors were enslaved and who were themselves treated as less than human by a large part of the population – facing indignities like Jim Crow laws and other demeaning outrages. In the minds of some people – sadly, many of whom are at the highest levels of government in this country – who hold onto such ignorant notions, the divide between the races remains a gaping chasm that will never be closed.

But if Joy Reid or any other self-proclaimed scholar (i.e. bandwagon-jumper) who has determined that “Jingle Bells” is in and of itself racist thinks that I will not sing the song out of solidarity with a cause that I believe is quite idiotic, they have another think coming.

Here’s an idea, Ms. Reid: If you want to bring change to the world, volunteer with some agency that does good in the world. Feed the hungry. Teach the uneducated. I know, I know, you wouldn’t get the kind of attention you crave by serving anonymously, but you would do a lot more good than you’re doing by trying to drive the wedge that exists between the races even deeper.

If that doesn’t work for you, here’s another idea: Get a job.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected].