Mall of America Finally Gets a Black Santa

There’s a new Santa in town at Mall of America, and he’s also black. The Minneapolis shopping center has hired its first black Santa in its 24-year history. Larry Jefferson, the fellow hired for a four-day stint to pose as the fictional Christmas character, told one of the many children who came to see him, “Santa comes in many different colors.’”

“There needs to be more Santas of color, because this is America, and kids need to see a Santa that looks like them,” he told the Washington Post. “That helps kids to identify with the love and spirit of the holiday, you know?” Jefferson was recruited by another Santa who was looking for a nonwhite Santa Claus to add to the roster at the Santa Experience, which works with the Mall of America during the holidays .

Plenty of other malls and other places across the country have had Santas of color — Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles is just one that has black and Latino Santas in rotation. Houston’s Richard Reyes, aka Pancho Claus, passes out gifts to disadvantaged children.

People on Twitter are mostly reacting positively to Mall of America’s black Santa.

Others wondered why this is a big deal at all, as there have been plenty of nonwhite Santas in malls across America in the past. Some argued that the fact that this is even news shows that we still have a long way to go in terms of how we talk about and approach diversity.

Of course, not everyone was feeling black Santa. Star Tribune editor Scott Gillespie mentioned that the newspaper’s website was forced to turn off the comments after posting the story.

Still, it seems the reaction to black Santa has been overwhelmingly positive, or indifference from people who are accustomed to seeing nonwhite Santas.

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