Joy Reid Promotes Video Claiming This Popular Christmas Song Is Racist

A video shared this week by former MSNBC host Joy Reid reignited a cultural debate over the origins of the Christmas song “Jingle Bells,” after the clip claimed the popular holiday tune was created “to make fun of black people.”

Reid shared the video with her 1.3 million Instagram followers, sparking renewed scrutiny of long-standing allegations about the song’s 19th-century history, as reported by The New York Post.

Fired MSNBC host Joy Reid shares video claiming ‘Jingle Bells’ is RACIST.

Reid shared a video to her Instagram which claims the famous Christmas song was written “to make fun of black people.”

Source: NY Post pic.twitter.com/xF9aYZhRhF

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) December 11, 2025

The video features a man in a Christmas sweater and Santa hat standing in Medford, Massachusetts, near a plaque marking the location where James Lord Pierpont is believed to have written the song in 1850.

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The caption asserts, “This is where a racist Confederate soldier wrote ‘Jingle Bells’ to make fun of black people,” and says the song originated in minstrel shows that were common during the era.

The clip further claims Pierpont, who later patented the tune in 1859, composed the song — originally titled “The One Horse Open Sleigh” — for performances in which white actors appeared in blackface to “mock and caricature black people trying to participate in winter activities.”

Another claim in the video argues that the line “laughing all the way” in the song “likely” references a minstrel-era comedic routine known as the “Laughing Darkie.”

The video also alleges Pierpont abandoned his family prior to the Civil War, joined the Confederate Army, and wrote songs intended to “rouse men defending slavery.” Pierpont was the uncle of financier J.P. Morgan.

Reid, whose MSNBC show “The ReidOut” was cancelled in February after nearly five years on air, has previously promoted disputed or controversial racial commentary. Last year, she pushed an unfounded claim that President Trump wanted “reparations for white people.”

This is not the first time “Jingle Bells” has been at the center of controversy. Council Rock Primary School in upstate New York banned the song from its annual holiday concert following concerns about alleged links to blackface and minstrelsy.

Joy Reid declares Jingle Bells song totally racist—just in time for Christmas https://t.co/qwkMGaza6r

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) December 10, 2025

The school faced backlash from residents, and the incident became part of a broader discussion about how schools treat traditional holiday material.

The source of the modern controversy traces back to a 2017 academic article by Boston University professor Kyna Hamill, whose research examined early performances of the song and its historical context.

Hamill’s work has since been cited by critics who argue the song’s origins should be reconsidered.

Pierpont’s authorship of the song and the evolution of “Jingle Bells” into one of the most widely recognized Christmas tunes in the United States remain part of an ongoing debate, particularly as older cultural material receives new academic and public attention.

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