Oh by the way, ‘Jingle Bells’ has been found to be a ‘racist’ Christmas carol as well

December 16, 2017 | | Print Article

If “Jingle Bells” doesn’t pass muster for social justice warriors, then “White Christmas” doesn’t stand a chance.

Boston University theater professor Kyna Hamill has declared the beloved Christmas carol “Jingle Bells” to be a racist song, insisting the classic has a “problematic history” of being performed to make fun of African Americans.

“The legacy of ‘Jingle Bells’ is one where its blackface and racist origins have been subtly and systematically removed from its history,” Hamill wrote in a research paper on the carol, according to Fox News.

“Although ‘One Horse Open Sleigh,’ for most of its singers and listeners, may have eluded its racialized past and taken its place in the seemingly unproblematic romanticization of a normal ‘white’ Christmas, attention to the circumstances of its performance history enables reflection on its problematic role in the construction of blackness and whiteness in the United States,” she added.

Hamill not only claims the popular carol reflects traces of blackface minstrel, she also suggested it’s sexist, featuring “elements of ‘male display,’ boasting, and the unbridled behavior of the male body onstage,” Fox News reported.

She panned the song’s lyrics, which Hamill said “display no real originality,” building her case, in part, around the notion that “southern” sounding words were used.

“Words such as ‘thro,’ ‘tho’t,’ and ‘upsot’ suggest a racialized performance that attempted to sound ‘southern’ to a northern audience,” Hamill wrote.

And while she is sure to find a willing audience on the left, social media users were a little more skeptical.

Here’s a sampling of responses from Twitter:

Tom Tillison

Tom Tillison

Tom is a grassroots activist who distinguished himself as one of the top conservative bloggers in Florida before joining BizPac Review.
Tom Tillison

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