A Christmas Carol (or If Santa Were a Black Woman)

Beginning of article

A bunch of us were having lunch recently when the conversation turned to Christmas. Much of what was said about the holiday that should be the most heartwarming, spiritually satisfying day of the year I can't repeat. Suffice it to say this group made Scrooge look like a compassionate combination of The Three Wise Men.

It wasn't so much everyone at the table knew that just because she had an "X" instead of a "Y" chromosome she'd be expected to do most of the work--the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning, the baking, the candlestick making -- that makes the season bright. It wasn't just that, although remarked about it. It was that the men in their lives expected them to.

My friend Diane's story was typical. "Yesterday," she said, "I put in eight hours at the job, then drove the three …