I never believed in Santa Claus because I knew no white dude would come into my neighborhood after dark.

Dick Gregory’s joke uses the Santa Claus myth to expose the everyday realities of racial segregation and fear in mid‑20th‑century Black neighborhoods. The humor hinges on a child’s “practical” inference: in a world where white presence after dark could signal danger—policing, harassment, or violence—the idea of a benevolent white visitor is implausible. By collapsing a cherished cultural fantasy into the logic of lived experience, Gregory highlights how racism distorts even childhood innocence and holiday rituals. The line also exemplifies his style: comedy as social critique, using a quick punchline to indict broader structures of inequality.