Santa should be whatever a child needs him to be
My Santa was Black and lived in Missouri, where my grandparents’ farm sat high on a hill.
I was well-versed on the North Pole and the community of elves, but it seemed logical in my young mind that Santa had a home somewhere in America’s heartland.
One snowy Christmas Eve, he arrived at my grandparent’s house on a horse-drawn carriage that kicked up the rocks as it pulled into the gravel driveway. Santa was jolly, and his beard was real. He came inside from the cold carrying a bag of gifts for my brother and me.
This is among my best Christmas memories as a child. Having a Santa who looked like me made the magic of the season more real. It’s why Santas across the nation come in all colors, or at least they should. There’s the history of Santa Claus, the white-bearded man with Turkish and Dutch roots. But in today’s multicultural society, Santa is diverse.
An Asian Santa greeted children at Minnesota’s Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping mall, this year for the first time in history. And two of the Santas on rotation there are Black. Another speaks Spanish and yet another Cantonese.
In Houston, Pancho Claus, aka Richard Reyes, who dons a red Zoot suit, fedora and sunglasses, has been distributing toys for 41 years in predominately Latino neighborhoods during the Christmas holiday. His carriage has been a 1973 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and he proclaims “Feliz Navidad!” as he travels to underserved communities.
He calls himself one of Santa’s helpers, but I bet many children don’t know the difference. Santa is whatever a child needs.
My own children have whispered their wishes into the ears of Santas of other ethnicities. I don’t think it occurred to them that Santa isn’t just one thing, but a collective of many.
“Santa has a lot of brothers,” my son said one day. Yes, brothers in the spirt of Christmas.
Each year, I host a holiday ice skating party at Discovery Green in downtown Houston with Santa, aka Derrick Farrow, who has made an appearance for the last three years. Kids swarm him as if he were tossing out candy canes. Some even shout with disbelief, “Santa’s Black!”
The older children want iPhones and ear buds. Some of the younger ones want puppies.
“I’ve been mentoring and finding ways to bring joy to kids, and Santa is the ultimate joy maker,” said Farrow, who is a member of 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, an organization that provides educational and economic opportunities for Black boys and young men. “It’s important for them to see figures who they look up to that look like them. It’s one way for them to feel empowered.”
The Tulsa, Okla., native said the only Santa he visited growing up was a white bearded man who worked at the mall.
“Imagine if I had grown up seeing a Black Santa at the mall? We’re conditioned to think Santa can only be white. For children to see me as Santa and flock to me with such joy feels good.”
My first job was a Santa’s elf at Foley’s department store in Sharpstown Mall. I helped children pose with Santa for photos. Santa was white, and I don’t think it occurred to many shoppers that he could be anything different.
It’s refreshing that giant retailers, such as Target, offer holiday décor and wrapping paper with Black Santa, Asian Santa, Latino Santa. In Houston, Black Santa Houston has given many families more options with storytime appearances and a collection of pajamas and gift wrap.
Given the world we live in, I know there are those who balk at Santa being Black, Asian or Latino. But given the world we live in, Santa should be whatever a child wants him to be.
Children don’t see color, so why should Santa be just one?