The race to change Mr. Claus

                  I'm convinced the world has become a tilted glacier off which common sense is poised to slide into the abyss.
                 'Tis the season of giving, and an opinion I read the other day gave me a tightly wrapped migraine.  Slate magazine blogger Aisha Harris proposed that from this day forward, the figure we know as Santa Claus ------ chubby, jolly, but more offensively to the blogger, white ------ should be cast as a gift-giving penguin. 
                I can almost hear the disapproving cries from the Easter Bunny:  "Now you've changed into a gift-giving animal?  Hey, pal, I'm working this side of the street.  Do yourself a favor:  Waddle yourself to another corner."
                Harris, an African-American woman, argued that converting the image of Santa Claus from an old white male to an animal could spare millions of non-white kids the insecurity and shame she claims she experienced during childhood.
                "Whether you celebrate the holidays or not, Santa is one of the first iconic figures foisted upon you," Harris wrote.  "He exists as an incredibly powerful image in the imaginations of children across the country and beyond.  That this genial, jolly man can only be seen as white ------ and consequently, that a Santa of any other hue is merely a joke or a chance to trudge out racist stereotypes ----- helps perpetuate the whole "white-as-default" notion endemic to American culture (and, of course, not just American culture).
                I wonder why Harris believes idolatry or greatness, whether the subject be real or contrived, should be defined by color.  I'm sure there are children of different races throughout the world who don't turn their noses up at the sea of presents beneath their Christmas tree every year because the man who slid down the chimney and placed them there does not look like them.
                I question whether children even care.  Our two children don't view Santa in terms of generosity and joy.  The only color they associate with Santa is his red suit.  Wise kids, our two.
                As if childhood isn't confusing enough, I wonder how Harris might explain to children who love Santa Claus in his present form that he's been transformed into a penquin -----or worse, that he's been replaced by a penquin.
                And how might she explain to children where the old Santa has gone?
                He got off the night shift?
                He went into private business?
                He quit when they suspended his frequent flier miles program?
                He retired?
                Santa's suddenly not white?  What's the next disturbing surprise, that the Beatles lip-synced or the moon is made of brie?  Why must it come down to color?  Why must Santa's race be used for social engineering purposes?  When I learned about Dr. Martin Luther King as a youngster, I didn't recoil because a great man's skin color was different than mine.  What mattered was he was a beacon of peace for all.
                And one so insistent on turning Santa Claus into Penquin Claus ------ Harris even has the penquin lifting St. Nick's surname ------ you'd think she'd know penquins are birds, not mammals as she incorrectly noted.
               Harris, beating a drum for equality here that doesn't need beating, argued the time has come that our image of Santa should serve all the children he delights each Christmas?
               But hasn't he been doing exactly that for centuries?