ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For generations, Santa Claus has brought Christmas joy to countless boys and girls all over the world. But for many children of color, Santa represented someone who didn’t look like them.
“The presence of African American Santas are extremely limited,” said Terri Lipsey Scott, Executive Director of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg.
“It’s a little disheartening, to say the least,” added Lipsey Scott. “Those who work hard should have a representation of themselves that folks who look like them can be giving and generous and kind and deliverable of wonderful gifts for their children.”
Lipsey Scott’s collection of black Santas is on display at the Woodson Museum, which also hosts events that feature a real-life black Santa Claus for families to take photos with. This week, some families drove from as far as an hour away for a photo with black Santa.
“Just last evening, the Woodson hosted an open house with a live black Santa and we had folks traveling from as far away as Land O’Lakes wanting to capture the opportunity of their children being photographed with a black Santa. Something that I certainly didn’t have the opportunity to have as a youngster,” she said.
And now, in true 2019 form, there’s an app that can help families locate a black Santa near them.
The Find Black Santa app features a national database of black Santas all over the country. Despite the fact that not all black Santas are welcomed with open arms.
In 2013, then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly stirred up controversy when she proclaimed on-air that Santa Claus was white. Even as recently as last week, when the city of St. Cloud, Florida featured a black Santa in the city Christmas parade, someone complained on social media and the community responded with resounding support.
“There was an overwhelming response from the community where people were excited that it was a black Santa,” said St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce Events Manager LaTanya Newell.
“I think that we, as adults, can learn from children that it should not be about color,” added Newell. “When we went through the neighborhood that day of the parade, children did not see color, they just saw Santa. They saw the joy, they saw the jolly that Santa brings, they saw the hope that, ‘I’m going to be good because there’s Santa and I know he’s going to show up on Christmas day,’ they didn’t see color.”
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