The True Meaning of Christmas

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” Hmm... Maybe. This quote explains what many people claim to believe today. Several Americans portray themselves as understanding the true meaning of Christmas, but as the cartoon represents, the actual meaning of Christmas continues to be forgotten each year. I agree with the view of Christmas presented by this picture. Although people try to convince themselves that Christmas is much more than a holiday of giving and receiving presents, they still become consumed with the many preparations and other things to go along with December twenty-fifth, without stopping to think of what the day is really about. When do you ever see a sign or advertisement proclaiming the birth of Jesus Christ? Instead, during this time of year, every commercial, every window sign, billboard, or coupon and magazine received in the mail proclaims the “best gift ideas” and informs us on where the “biggest sales” will be taking place. During this time, it is not made clear that Jesus was God’s ultimate gift to the world, given to us graciously and willingly at the expense of our sins.
The image of the Christmas shopper stresses the point that the importance of Christmas is soon forgotten around this time of year. Although it is clearly portrayed in the message on the screen that Christmas is about more than presents, the woman’s first thought is to purchase a gift with the phrase included on it. Hypocritical much? It seems that she is oblivious to what the quote means, and sees it simply as an idea for more presents; exactly what Christmas should be least about. The fact that her arms are filled with additional gifts only helps more in showing her lack of understanding of what the quote is talking about. Another visual that goes along with the main point is the whole appearance of the salesman behind the counter. His expression looks as if he can care less about what he is doing. In the Christmas season, shouldn’t an employee at least attempt to be in the Christmas spirit? He appears unhappy, unenthused, and unfriendly. This helps by once again, displaying nothing of the sort of what Christmas should be about.

The Death of Sean Taylor and The "Black KKK"

In his article, Jason Whitlock writes about the death of former NFL player, Sean Taylor. Whitlock uses Taylor’s death to support his assertion that the “Black KKK” is responsible for what has happened, and claims that they are still a threat to all black men today. He feels that “black men are targets of black men” and until the Black KKK has not been stopped, nothing will change. Whitlock also discusses the impact of hip-hop on the young black culture. He believes that it is responsible for giving them the impression to live in a “culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration”. Whitlock believes that this Black KKK is to blame for the death of Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy could be next.

Jason Whitlock argues that “if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death”, and I disagree. Your life is not in danger simply due to the color of your skin. I do not agree that every black man is destined to a violent death, such as Whitlock claims. It is true that African Americans were once degraded, mistreated, and left undefended in United States history, however, it would be unacceptable for anyone to look at blacks in such a way now. They are no longer viewed as inferior members of society, and assumptions should not be made that they remain “in danger” and subject to “violent deaths” as a result of their race. Whitlock jumps to conclusions in assuming the present view on blacks in America.

An example of parallelism used in this article is the comparison between the “White KKK” and the “Black KKK”. Whitlock states that “rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees”. This strengthens the article by fulfilling Whitlock’s statement that the Black KKK needs to be stopped. His parallelism to the White KKK proves that it took courage to put an ending to this similar problem in the past, and it shows that maybe the same courage is what’s required in stopping the Black KKK today.