Driving an hour to see a Black Santa
Shortly after noon on a winter Friday, a group of families line up to see one of the Washington, D.C. area's most sought-after celebrities, a superstar they tracked to the center court of a suburban Maryland shopping mall.
That luminary, enthroned on a bright green couch and surrounded by giant red-and-gold packages, is Black Santa.
This particular Black Santa - at the Mall at Prince George's, in the majority-Black county of the same name - was "the only one I could find," said Erin Heard. She traveled there from neighboring D.C. with her husband, Correll Heard, and their 3-year-old son, Micah, who turned out to be a bit trepidatious of the jolly old elf.
Correll said that when he was young, Santa was "just an old White guy with a beard. I don't think I really thought about it." But after you become a parent, he said, "you want to see your child see someone who looks like him doing the same things other people do."
Although the D.C. metropolitan region is incredibly diverse, with Caucasians making up less than half the population, there is a serious dearth of non-White St. Nicks. Victoria Clark, marketing director for the mall said that Black Santa has been a staple there for decades, attracting a lot of returning families. "It's a big draw to have an African American Santa," she said.
Kiaira Reeves, there with her almost 1-year-old son, Kalani, remembers visiting White Santas at this very mall when she was a child. "Representation is very important to me," she said. "We even went to Target and got wrapping paper with Black Santa." (Parents have noted that in the past couple of years or so, there has been an uptick in Black Santa decorative items from retailers.)
There has long been a push for more diversity in children's book and television characters, so children of all races can see themselves in the entertainment they absorb. The same goes for the most famous toymaker in the world. Research into diversity in media suggests that minority children who see Santas who look like them can feel increased self-confidence and self-esteem, said Nekeshia Hammond, a clinical psychologist in Brandon, Fla., while White children benefit by experiencing cultural diversity. "Representation does positively affect children," she said.
But there is a long way to go until Black Santas are easy to find. Parents pursue Black Santas through online groups, their network of friends, TikTok videos from parents who have found one. Chichi Solomon, who was at the mall with her husband and 21-month-old daughter, Muna, learned about this Santa from a friend who "was so excited, she sent it on a group chat to all of us who are moms with young kids."
Edwina Walker thought living in predominantly Black Prince George's County meant it would be easy to give her grandson the same experience she had as a child, when her own grandmother took her to meet a Black Santa in a mall in New Jersey. "It makes me proud that I do have a photo of myself and a memory of myself with Black Santa," she said. For too long, representations of "many different and important figures just had one race, which is White."
But when Walker started to look for a Black Santa near her Oxon Hill home, she came up short. Eventually, she consulted a national Facebook group for people trying to find a Black Santa and drove nearly an hour to Columbia, Md., for the photo. She hopes she won't have to repeat that trip. "The kids of this community are owed a Black Santa," she said.
The lack of Black Santas is not limited to the D.C. area, of course. And the lack isn't just relegated to the man himself. A few years ago, when Lola Keyes Woods of Los Angeles couldn't find Christmas pajamas that "featured characters that looked like us," she decided to provide them herself. Her lifestyle brand, Hendrix & Lenox (named after her sons, ages 7 and 4, respectively), now sells pajamas with Black Santas and Mrs. Clauses, elves and toy soldiers, as well as ornaments and coloring books.
To thank her supporters, Woods wanted to throw a Christmas party, complete with a Santa. "And of course I wanted him to be Black," she said. "But it was incredibly difficult to find and secure a Black Santa." She also hasn't seen a Black Santa at a nearby mall. "We've always gone to the Grove in Los Angeles, and they have a beautiful Christmas setup, but the Santa was always White."
There has been progress. Houston and other areas of Texas have Pancho Claus. The Wing Luke Museum in Seattle's Chinatown-International District offers a visit from an Asian Santa. The Disney theme parks introduced Black Santas last year, to huge acclaim.
The flagship Macy's department store in New York City has offered visitors the option to see a Black Santa for years; parents in the know would ask for "special Santa" while in line and a Black Santa would be swapped in. The company has since gone to a reservations system at the Manhattan location and a few others. There, parents can note a preference for a White Santa, a Black Santa or a Spanish-speaking Santa. Macy's is "exploring a number of additional representations of Santa for future holiday celebrations," a spokesman said.
The Mall of America near Minneapolis - the largest mall in the country - is perhaps leading the charge. This year, The Santa Experience there has had its most diverse lineup ever with six Santas: two Black, one Asian who speaks Cantonese and three White, one of whom speaks Spanish.
"It just makes sense," said Lando Luther, who owns the two Santa Experience locations at the mall. "There are so many different cultures that celebrate Christmas. And we believe that representation matters, and for a child to see themselves in such a positive figure is important."
With the encouragement of customers who had been asking for a Black Santa, Luther hired Larry Jefferson for the job after opening his second location in 2016, a move that made national headlines and sparked an online backlash. Luther's original Santa, Sid Fletcher, had found Jefferson at a Santa convention where he was the only Black St. Nick.
Santa Larry, who sleighs his way up every year from Dallas (where Asian Santa Allan Siu lives, as well), said the experience has been "phenomenal. We get a chance to make some children happy and parents happy and make Christmas memories. That's what it's all about."
As with Macy's, there is a reservation system, and Santa Larry says he is visited by kids of all races. "When they see Santa Claus, they see Santa Claus. They see the red suit, the white beard and the jolly Santa. . . . And sometimes they just run and leap into my arms, whether a White child, Black or Hispanic child."
But, he acknowledges, "My African American children, when they see me, they really do light up. I'll have to admit. Representation does matter."
Luther said he thinks more diverse Santas will be available in the future. "Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, this is just commonplace, and it isn't newsworthy."
Joseph McGrievy, president of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas (as opposed to those who wear costume beards), said he has seen a slight increase in the number of diverse Santas in their organization, mostly among Black and Hispanic Santas. Both he and the group's chairman, Ric Erwin, said they aren't aware of an Asian Santa member.
While some customers seek out diverse Santas, McGrievy said, sometimes "even other races want a White Santa because that is the stereotype. . . . We are open to any race or religion for Santas as long as they have a white beard, are overweight and jolly."
Diana Rohini LaVigne, a mother of two from Fremont, Calif., said that it would take a diverse Santa to get her to bring her multiracial daughters, ages 7 and 11, to see Santa.
Visiting Santa Claus has never been part of their holiday tradition but, LaVigne said, "I could see that being a very meaningful activity where we go and we explore a different view of Santa. The idea would be someone that is Asian and, in particular, Indian, because their dad is Indian."
"Why not an Indian Santa Claus? That would make it more meaningful for me," she said. "And, quite frankly, I would love to find one."
Back in Prince George's County, there are efforts to further diversify the Santa offerings. This year and last, Black Santa visited Hilltop Plaza shopping center in Bowie for a day. "People really want to embrace their culture," said Kellen Hunte, director of marketing for the commercial real estate firm Rappaport, which manages the center. He described the effect of Black Santa as "similar to what Black Panther did . . . in creating this superhero that looks like the community."
Hunte says Rappaport hopes to increase the number of days Black Santa will be at Bowie and other parts of the D.C. area. "We really want to set the standard for Santas moving forward, especially in a county that's predominantly Black," he said.
Montrese Ham, Hilltop's Santa, sees his mission as making the kids who sit on his lap walk away feeling confident. "With the young brothers and sisters, I crack jokes [like], 'Man, that's a big head you have. You're going to have quite an engineering career coming up.'"
He also talks to the kids about how Santa Claus represents the spirit of Christmas. "Whether you're a Black Santa or a White Santa, it's all about family, community, children, love - and that has no color."
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