Faithful America, a 2004-founded online community of Christians who are fighting for social justice, has called upon toy maker Fisher-Price to change the appearance of the Nativity characters in an upcoming children's set.
The social justice advocates, who "challenge Christian nationalism and white supremacy and to renew the church's prophetic role in building a more free and just society" believe that the characters in Fisher-Price's "Little People Nativity" playsets should be race-appropriate.
"Selling a blonde, white Jesus toy isn't just untrue to history - it's untrue to the message of the Gospel, and fuels the very oppression that Jesus opposed," the group wrote in the online petition, which has a little over 12,000 signatures and a goal of 15,000 signatures.
"Mattel's 'Little People Nativity' and 'Little People A Deluxe Christmas Story' playsets wrongly depict the Holy Family as white," the petition read, referring to Fisher-Price's parent company Mattel. "This doesn't just get history wrong; it also fuels white supremacy, as many theologians and historians have noted."
It appears that the concerns of the social justice advocates are being heard by Mattel executives. According to Premiere Christian News (via Christian Headlines), executives at Mattel "seemed receptive" to a letter sent by Faithful America, which demanded that the 1945-founded, $4.58 billion company should "immediately and publicly commit to depicting the Holy Family as people of color in your Nativity sets and to no longer selling white Jesus products."
Faithful America's executive director, Episcopal priest Rev. Nathan Empsell argued that people are used to seeing a white Jesus that reinforces the false idea that Jesus was white when in fact, he was a person of color who originated from the Middle Eastern country of Israel. He argued that producing toys in the image of a white Jesus "[adds] to all the other toys and every church painting and every Renaissance painting that already exists."
According to Britannica, Jews make up about three-fourths of the total population of Israel, while the remaining quarter is made up of Palestinian Arabs, Muslims, and more. The Jewish population traces their roots to Western Europe, Middle East and North Africa, North Africa, Central Asia, North America, and Latin America, following their immigration to the area since the late 19th century, making them very diverse in terms of ethnic origin and culture.
Forbes reported in June 2020 that during BBC Radio 4's Today program, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby addressed the question on whether it was time to depict Jesus in ways other than "white," Welby agreed.
"You go into their churches and you don't see a White Jesus - you see a Black Jesus, or Chinese Jesus, or a Middle Eastern Jesus - which is of course the most accurate," Welby said, admitting that Jesus was indeed "Middle Eastern" and that he has long been represented other than as a white man in various churches all over the world. " You see a Fijian Jesus - you see Jesus portrayed in as many ways as there are cultures, languages and understandings."
Jesus' race and ethnicity is once again being placed in the forefront of political discourse given the racially-sensitive climate of today. White Jesus is truly prevalent and many are looking to encourage diversification in the name of inclusion.
