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January 21
2019
Opinion
The Congressional Black Caucus Needs to Get to
Work on the Western Sahara
T
he transition towards a
new Congress is under-
way. Democrats are be-
ginning to assume lead-
ership positions as a result of
their gaining a House major-
ity. The Congressional Black
Caucus (CBC) should now
have many issues to bring for-
ward and one of them needs
to be the Western Sahara.
Once upon a time the CBC
was one of the most signif-
icant so-called mainstream
players in the realm of US for-
eign policy. In the 1970s - 1980s
the CBC was central to work
against white minority rule
in Southern Africa. Some of
its members also pushed the
envelope on the US blockade
of Cuba. Yet, over the years
the voice of the CBC on US
foreign policy has become far
more distant. Yes, they have
paid attention to matters such
as US trade policy with Afri-
ca, but they have shied away
from addressing conflicts in
Africa, let alone other major
international issues.
The question of the West-
ern Sahara, a former Spanish
colony illegally occupied by
the Moroccan government, is
one such conflict site that the
CBC has spent precious little
time addressing. It is not that
they don’t care, at least from
Bill
Fletcher Jr.
The Global
African
what I can tell. Former Con-
gressman John Conyers, for
instance, was the co-chair of
a Congressional committee
on the Western Sahara. Yet,
what has been missing is the
passion and engagement that
should be associated with re-
solving Africa’s last remain-
ing colonial question.
The Western Sahara is not
a matter on the tip of every-
one’s tongue. In part because
there has been a long-term
truce between the Moroccan
occupation forces and the
national liberation move-
ment known as POLISARIO,
Morocco’s litany of human
rights abuses and its denial of
national self-determination
to the Sahrawi population
rarely gets into the headlines.
Yet the potential for regional
destabilization is ever pres-
ent particularly as Morocco
ignores United Nations and
African Union calls for the
respect of national self-deter-
mination.
Quite obviously, the con-
flict in the Western Sahara
is an inner-African struggle.
This colonialism is carried
out by one African country
against another, rather than
a struggle against European
“
The Mo-
roccan gov-
ernment is
permitting
the people
of the West-
ern Sahara
to be robbed
by foreign
corporations
in search of
cheap natural
resources
colonialism. Nevertheless, it
represents a struggle over
the future of Africa not only
because it may explode once
again but because it calls
into question the terms un-
der which peace and justice
can truly emerge on a conti-
nent divided as it has been by
boundaries originally estab-
lished by European colonial
powers.
The CBC can take an active
role. It needs to put the pres-
sure on the USA to pull back
from its nearly unqualified
support for the Moroccan
monarchy and its illegal occu-
pation of the Western Saha-
ra. This can begin by the CBC
making the Western Sahara
a very public issue and show-
ing the world the manner in
which the Moroccan govern-
ment is permitting the people
of the Western Sahara to be
robbed by foreign corpora-
tions in search of cheap natu-
ral resources.
The CBC truly needs its own
foreign policy platform with-
in which the Western Sahara
should play a prominent role.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the for-
mer president of TransAf-
rica Forum. Follow him on
Twitter, Facebook and www.
billfletcherjr.com. He is the
author of the new thriller The
Man Who Fell From the Sky
from Hardball Press.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the former
president of TransAfrica Fo-
rum. Follow him on Twitter,
Facebook and www.billfletch-
erjr.com. He is the author of the
new thriller The Man Who Fell
From the Sky from Hardball
Press.
The White-Washing of Santa Claus
F
or starters (spoiler alert)
Santa Claus is an imag-
inary character — not
real. The jolly guy in the
goofy red suit is an American
icon of popular culture. Al-
though portrayed as magical,
he’s mythical. The Santa sto-
ry is a fabled fairy-tale — not
true. A lavish legendary yarn.
The roly-poly male with the
white beard is a fictional char-
acter. Flying reindeer, a toy
manufacturing center at the
North Pole, and hardworking
elves — not real. And Mrs.
Claus is imaginary as well.
Santa is modeled after St.
Nick, a real man, but what was
the color of the bishop’s skin
— and does it matter? Saint
Nicholas of Mira, fourth-cen-
tury Christian saint, was a
breathing and sneezing per-
son. Santa Claus is not. Santa
Claus is also known as Kris
Kringle and Father Christ-
mas. Because Santa is a myth,
he can be made into whatever
race or ethnicity his followers
want him to be.
Does Santa only speak the
English language? How does
he communicate when he
drops off toys to children in
other countries? Is there a
translator at the mall?
And Santa doesn’t claim a
Melissa
Martin,
Ph.D.
Guest
Columnist
religion. Do Americans as-
sume he’s Christian? And if
so, is Santa Catholic, Protes-
tant, Baptist, Mormon, non-
denominational, or other?
“
Because Santa
is a myth, he
can be made
into whatever
race or eth-
nicity his fol-
lowers want
him to be
Aisha Harris penned a 2013
article on Slate about grow-
ing up Black in a world with
a White Santa Claus. Harris
writes, “Seeing two differ-
ent Santas was bewildering.
Eventually I asked my father
what Santa really looked like.
Was he brown, like us? Or
was he really a white guy? My
father replied that Santa was
every color. Whatever house
he visited, jolly old St. Nicho-
las magically turned into the
likeness of the family that
lived there.”
Let’s revisit the landmark
1954 civil rights case Brown v.
Board of Education. Research-
ers questioned small children
using a Black doll and a white
doll to measure perceptions
about race. The tool measured
attitudes about what color has
to do with being (“pretty” or
“good”) or (“ugly” or “bad”).
The “Doll Test” was cited by
the Supreme Court in sup-
port of its conclusion that seg-
regation harmed the psyches
of Black children. And An-
ti-black racism is internalized
by young Black children.
Former Fox anchor Megyn
Kelly, Rush Limbaugh, and
Bill O’Reilly (all Caucasian)
spoke out to proclaim and
defend a traditional White-
skinned Santa. Folks, Santa
is not a real person. And he’s
neither conservative nor lib-
eral — Santa doesn’t vote.
Why is there racial contro-
versy over the color of a fic-
tional character’s skin? Just
because it’s a long-told tradi-
tional tale does not mean San-
ta real.
My list of solutions:
1. Make Santa’s skin the col-
ors of the rainbow,
2. Stop lying to kids about
Santa being real and do
away with him,
3. Be inclusive and respectful
of an African American
Santa, a Hispanic Santa,
an Asian Santa, a Native
American Santa, a multi-
racial Santa, an African
Santa or a Santa Claus of
any color, race, ethnicity,
culture.
White families can still vis-
it their White Santa at the
mall; however, they need to
zip their lips when families
of other skin colors choose to
visit with their Santa of color.
And stop telling White chil-
dren that Santa is only white-
skinned. Santa can be any col-
or of skin because Santa is not
a real person. And Santa can
represent all human beings.
Racism in our celebration of
the Christmas holiday needs
to end in the USA and in other
countries.
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is
an author, columnist, educa-
tor, and therapist. She lives in
Ohio. www.melissamartinchil-
drensauthor.com.
