December 22, 2025 • 8 mins
While Christmas is often remembered as a time of joy and tradition, its history during American slavery was deliberately rewritten. This episode of IDKMYDE, our Host, B Daht, unpacks how Lost Cause propaganda used romanticized Christmas stories to sanitize slavery -- and what enslaved people actually endured during the holidays.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back, know it All to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm your host, b Dot and the first order of business,
a big congratulations goes out to the boss man, Charlemagne
the God five years, two hundred million dollar contract extension
with our Hearts, two hundred million dollars. And to that,
I say, Father God, Yes, sir, I see what you're
(00:36):
doing for others. Yes, suhot about a EDG glory if
you just come on into my neighborhood, Father God with
a financial blessing.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yes, shout out her eg No.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
In all seriousness, congratulations of Charlemagne, much deserved, much earned.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And I can't help but have pride and being a
part of that.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I mean, all the podcasts that make the Black Effect
Podcast Network, they bring in billions and billions of streams.
That's billions and billions of dollars. And that's the goal, man.
The goal is to create something that can impact the culture,
uplift the people, and.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Upgrade your pockets.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
And Charlemagne has checked all three boxes for over two decades.
But this is the Christmas episode, so happy holidays, Big
shouts to the folks that's excited about Christmas, there's got
a bunch of gifts up under the tree. Then those
of us that ain't got nothing up under the tree
but dreams, little empty stockings under the TV still got
(01:35):
the tags on them, just in case we want to
take them back after the holidays. But as I'm gearing
up for season five of the podcast That Debused February first,
twenty twenty six, twenty eight curated Black history episodes that
I didn't know maybe you didn't either, and it got
me to thinking about Christmas and what our ancestors endured
during those times. But before I get into the episode,
(01:58):
if this is your first time, list once again, you
are a know it all, not because you know it all,
but because you want to know it all.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So welcome know it all.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And we kick off every episode with three of the
most useless facts you'll never need ever, not a day
in life. And today's three useless facts are about Christmas
in the enslavement period up first, January first was way
more feared than Christmas by enslaved people because see January
(02:29):
first was the most common day that you were sold,
rented out, or just separated from your family most times forever.
Your second useless fact Christmas slave revolts terrified white slave holders. Yeah,
especially because some of the largest rebellions in the Caribbean
happened during the holiday season. And your third useless fact
(02:51):
is some enslaved people used Christmas to escape, Like the
abolition is Henry bib He chose Christmas Day of eighteen
thirty seven. He left from Kentucky to Ohio by water,
no boats, no ship, no canoe. Buddy swam from Kentucky
to Ohio because he knew that the guards would.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Be relaxed on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Those are minion three useless facts about Christmas during the
enslavement period. January first was way more fear than Christmas
because that's when it was most common for you to
be sold or rented out or pretty much separated from
your family forever. Number two, them slaver votes went down
on Christmas and had them slave masters nervous as hell.
As a matter of fact, many of the largest rebellions
(03:36):
in the Caribbean happened during the holiday season.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And to that point.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Season five that debuts February first, twenty twenty six. Are
we talking about black history around the Globe on this season,
So make sure you got your digital passports and hop
on flights sixteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Now dig it for today's episode.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
What if I told you that one of the most
romanticized parts of American slavery was Christmas?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I didn't know. So digg it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
At the exact moment when Christmas was becoming a national holiday,
the late eighteen hundreds, white Southern writers were doing something strategic.
They were rewriting history. See this is the era of
the Lost Cause. It's that myth that the Civil War
wasn't about slavery, but it.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Was about state rights.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And Christmas became one of their biggest tools they used
for propaganda. Oh, they told stories of enslaved people dancing
and laughing and exchanging gifts with their enslavers, almost like
it was one big Plantation family Christmas special seen on Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But that story was cap Robert E. Ma He was
a historian.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
He studied plantation diaries and first hand accounts of formally
enslaved people, and he found a much different reality, a
much darker reality for many enslaved folks, Christmas wasn't joyful
at all. It was terrifying. Some were whipped, some were sold.
Some spent the entire holiday worrying about January first, because,
(05:25):
like I told you in Three Useless Facts, that's when
the slave contracts reset and families routinely torn apart, many
times forever.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Like imagine getting a.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Day off knowing you might get sent to an even
more violent enslaver next week. And yes, enslaved people were
sometimes literally given as Christmas gifts, human beings wrapped in paperwork.
Lewis Hughes he was born a slave in Virginia. He
wrote the memoir Thirty Years a Slave, and he also
(05:58):
wrote about being gifted to a mistress on Christmas Eve.
Robert Russell Molten big shout the Hampton University because he
was an administrator at the Hampton Institute. But then he
became the president of Tuskegee after Booker T. Washington died
in nineteen thirty five, and he held that position for
twenty years. Well, he recalled watching his own father being
(06:20):
handed over as a present, and what about the Confederate
General George Pickett. His widow She casually wrote that her
Christmas gift one year was a six week old black
baby with a deed like These ain't fairy tales. I'm
telling you, this ain't folklore. This is documented history. So
(06:41):
why do we still pictures smiling enslaved people at Christmas?
Well because from eighteen eighty to nineteen twenty nine, white
Southern authors, Confederate memorial groups, and pop culture went on
a full pr run. They dropped books, poems, paintings, memoirs,
even Uncle Rima's Story and later Disney's Song of the South.
(07:03):
All of that couple together helped sell the fantasy that
enslaved people loved their conditions, and it worked. Those myths
helped justify segregation, justified discrimination, and kept silence in the
classrooms for generations. Look, here's the truth. Christmas was often
used by enslaved people, black people, our people, not to celebrate,
(07:26):
but to escape, to resist, or to survive. And if
we're serious about teaching history honestly, we can't keep pretending
that some parts are just too uncomfortable, especially when those
myths are still shaping how America understands itself today. When
I kick off Season five, if I didn't know, maybe
you didn't either. February first, twenty twenty six, we'll be
(07:48):
celebrating the one hundred year anniversary of celebrating Black History
Month in February.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
YEP. Cartergie Woodson founded it February nineteen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Twenty sixteen twenty a time when them Southern authors and
Confederate groups was dropping books and poems and paintings, erasing
our history. Fast forward to twenty twenty five. Do you
see any parallels. That's why podcasts like these are not
just entertaining, they're essential.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I
Welcome back, know it All to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm your host, b Dot and the first order of business,
a big congratulations goes out to the boss man, Charlemagne
the God five years, two hundred million dollar contract extension
with our Hearts, two hundred million dollars. And to that,
I say, Father God, Yes, sir, I see what you're
(00:36):
doing for others. Yes, suhot about a EDG glory if
you just come on into my neighborhood, Father God with
a financial blessing.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yes, shout out her eg No.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
In all seriousness, congratulations of Charlemagne, much deserved, much earned.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And I can't help but have pride and being a
part of that.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I mean, all the podcasts that make the Black Effect
Podcast Network, they bring in billions and billions of streams.
That's billions and billions of dollars. And that's the goal, man.
The goal is to create something that can impact the culture,
uplift the people, and.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Upgrade your pockets.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
And Charlemagne has checked all three boxes for over two decades.
But this is the Christmas episode, so happy holidays, Big
shouts to the folks that's excited about Christmas, there's got
a bunch of gifts up under the tree. Then those
of us that ain't got nothing up under the tree
but dreams, little empty stockings under the TV still got
(01:35):
the tags on them, just in case we want to
take them back after the holidays. But as I'm gearing
up for season five of the podcast That Debused February first,
twenty twenty six, twenty eight curated Black history episodes that
I didn't know maybe you didn't either, and it got
me to thinking about Christmas and what our ancestors endured
during those times. But before I get into the episode,
(01:58):
if this is your first time, list once again, you
are a know it all, not because you know it all,
but because you want to know it all.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So welcome know it all.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And we kick off every episode with three of the
most useless facts you'll never need ever, not a day
in life. And today's three useless facts are about Christmas
in the enslavement period up first, January first was way
more feared than Christmas by enslaved people because see January
(02:29):
first was the most common day that you were sold,
rented out, or just separated from your family most times forever.
Your second useless fact Christmas slave revolts terrified white slave holders. Yeah,
especially because some of the largest rebellions in the Caribbean
happened during the holiday season. And your third useless fact
(02:51):
is some enslaved people used Christmas to escape, Like the
abolition is Henry bib He chose Christmas Day of eighteen
thirty seven. He left from Kentucky to Ohio by water,
no boats, no ship, no canoe. Buddy swam from Kentucky
to Ohio because he knew that the guards would.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Be relaxed on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Those are minion three useless facts about Christmas during the
enslavement period. January first was way more fear than Christmas
because that's when it was most common for you to
be sold or rented out or pretty much separated from
your family forever. Number two, them slaver votes went down
on Christmas and had them slave masters nervous as hell.
As a matter of fact, many of the largest rebellions
(03:36):
in the Caribbean happened during the holiday season.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And to that point.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Season five that debuts February first, twenty twenty six. Are
we talking about black history around the Globe on this season,
So make sure you got your digital passports and hop
on flights sixteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Now dig it for today's episode.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
What if I told you that one of the most
romanticized parts of American slavery was Christmas?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I didn't know. So digg it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
At the exact moment when Christmas was becoming a national holiday,
the late eighteen hundreds, white Southern writers were doing something strategic.
They were rewriting history. See this is the era of
the Lost Cause. It's that myth that the Civil War
wasn't about slavery, but it.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Was about state rights.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And Christmas became one of their biggest tools they used
for propaganda. Oh, they told stories of enslaved people dancing
and laughing and exchanging gifts with their enslavers, almost like
it was one big Plantation family Christmas special seen on Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But that story was cap Robert E. Ma He was
a historian.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
He studied plantation diaries and first hand accounts of formally
enslaved people, and he found a much different reality, a
much darker reality for many enslaved folks, Christmas wasn't joyful
at all. It was terrifying. Some were whipped, some were sold.
Some spent the entire holiday worrying about January first, because,
(05:25):
like I told you in Three Useless Facts, that's when
the slave contracts reset and families routinely torn apart, many
times forever.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Like imagine getting a.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Day off knowing you might get sent to an even
more violent enslaver next week. And yes, enslaved people were
sometimes literally given as Christmas gifts, human beings wrapped in paperwork.
Lewis Hughes he was born a slave in Virginia. He
wrote the memoir Thirty Years a Slave, and he also
(05:58):
wrote about being gifted to a mistress on Christmas Eve.
Robert Russell Molten big shout the Hampton University because he
was an administrator at the Hampton Institute. But then he
became the president of Tuskegee after Booker T. Washington died
in nineteen thirty five, and he held that position for
twenty years. Well, he recalled watching his own father being
(06:20):
handed over as a present, and what about the Confederate
General George Pickett. His widow She casually wrote that her
Christmas gift one year was a six week old black
baby with a deed like These ain't fairy tales. I'm
telling you, this ain't folklore. This is documented history. So
(06:41):
why do we still pictures smiling enslaved people at Christmas?
Well because from eighteen eighty to nineteen twenty nine, white
Southern authors, Confederate memorial groups, and pop culture went on
a full pr run. They dropped books, poems, paintings, memoirs,
even Uncle Rima's Story and later Disney's Song of the South.
(07:03):
All of that couple together helped sell the fantasy that
enslaved people loved their conditions, and it worked. Those myths
helped justify segregation, justified discrimination, and kept silence in the
classrooms for generations. Look, here's the truth. Christmas was often
used by enslaved people, black people, our people, not to celebrate,
(07:26):
but to escape, to resist, or to survive. And if
we're serious about teaching history honestly, we can't keep pretending
that some parts are just too uncomfortable, especially when those
myths are still shaping how America understands itself today. When
I kick off Season five, if I didn't know, maybe
you didn't either. February first, twenty twenty six, we'll be
(07:48):
celebrating the one hundred year anniversary of celebrating Black History
Month in February.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
YEP. Cartergie Woodson founded it February nineteen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Twenty sixteen twenty a time when them Southern authors and
Confederate groups was dropping books and poems and paintings, erasing
our history. Fast forward to twenty twenty five. Do you
see any parallels. That's why podcasts like these are not
just entertaining, they're essential.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I
Host
Brian "B Daht" McLaughlin
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