Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Caryn Riswold

Home
Progressive Christian
Band Aid 30: Colonial Christmas Is Back!

Band Aid 30: Colonial Christmas Is Back!

Last updated on: November 18, 2014 at 10:18 am by Caryn Riswold

Band Aid 30: Colonial Christmas Is Back! 2014-11-18T10:18:32-07:00 Caryn Riswold

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

That’s right. Your 24/7 Christmas music playlists and stations are likely to have the Band Aid 30 updated version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in full rotation this season, topping sales charts with the charitable intent of raising money to help fight the Ebola pandemic in West Africa.

Cathleen Falsani has written over at her Patheos blog about how the original song and Live Aid concert in 1984 inspired her with tiny glimmers of awareness about global poverty and hunger: “A seed of curiosity about my connection with and responsibility to fellow human beings on the other side of the world was planted and has continued to grow throughout my life and professional career.” I’m impressed that something meaningful came from such schmaltz. I just remember thinking it was omigodsoawesome that Boy George was in it! (Confessions of an 80s teen: I loved Boy George.)

More recently, though, my more thoughtful and critical self has wondered how such an insulting song can be taken seriously. Do they know it’s Christmas? Really? 1) who doesn’t know when Christmas is? 2) why would you assume “they” a) are Christian and b) care?, because 3) what difference does it make whether it’s Christmas or not when your community lacks the infrastructure to prevent the spread of a disease that kills an overwhelming number of those who contract it?

It’s the most ridiculous and colonial assertion of Christian privilege that permeates a season already filled with the imposition of Christmas on unsuspecting masses. A few years ago, Tod Goldberg wrote a great piece with a line by line analysis of why Do They Know It’s Christmas? is “the most insufferable Christmas song ever.” One line from the original that persists into the latest 30th anniversary version is this:

“And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of Joy / Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time.”

… and Goldberg’s comment:

“Unless, of course, you try to throw your arms around a place that doesn’t celebrate Christmas — like, you know, large parts of Africa — and instead of spreading joy, you end up starting 25 years of sectarian civil war.”

It’s the kind of othering of Africans (and ignorance about the consequences of white racial narcissism) that has always been a prerequisite for the colonial and neocolonial impulse. It replicates the White Savior Industrial Complex that Teju Cole and others have written about, a tendency of white people to swoop in and try to “save” nonwhite people rather than listening to them, rather than acknowledging their agency and history of resistance, rather than making systemic changes that can lead to stable and sustainable communities:

“If Americans want to care about Africa, maybe they should consider evaluating American foreign policy, which they already play a direct role in through elections, before they impose themselves on Africa itself.”

I wrote about the misplaced fears related to the Ebola outbreak around Halloween this year, noting that:

“Actually, we should all be worried about the Ebola epidemic in West African countries and how its spread is threatening to weaken their economies and our interconnected global society. We should be worried about our neighbors in Liberia and Sierra Leone and Guinea, and fear that the future is eroding in front them. And we should be worried about stigmatization of people in the U.S. who are connected with this region. Even children who have never been there. We need to worry about how racism and ethnocentrism are shaping our responses.”

At the end of his piece, which was written in context of the Kony2012 campaign and was thick with political analysis, Cole’s words lead us back to the musical charity of Band Aid 30:

“All of this takes us rather far afield from fresh-faced young Americans using the power of YouTube, Facebook, and pure enthusiasm to change the world. A singer may be innocent; never the song.”

A listener may be innocent, never the consumer.

If you are interested in learning more about Ebola from the BBC and Doctors Without Borders, click here and here.

If you are interested in supporting efforts to help via Doctors Without Borders and The Red Cross, click here and here.

white savior industrial complex

Previous Post

November 13, 2014

Feminist Scholarship & Pedagogies at #NWSA2014

Next Post

November 21, 2014 "To Welcome The Stranger"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion At the Intersections Atheism Christianity Contraception Education Feminism Gender Getting Theological Honorable Mention Islam LGBT News Our Voices Race Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Peter Jesus James