Horice Hymes asked his 7-year-old daughter an innocent question about what she learned in school on Monday. He found her answer horrifying. "She told me, 'I learned that the white on the candy cane ...

is a Christmas mascot built on a kind of delicious deception. It looks so wholesome — a cheerful red-and-white curl of peppermint, practically jingling with innocence. It hangs from trees, fills ...