INQUISITR.COM / Health & Lifestyle

Mall of America Hires First Black Santa Claus Ever

By Jeffrey Totey
Published on: 17:50 PST, Dec 2, 2016

After 24 years of operation, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota has hired its first black Santa Claus reports MSN. However, this story begins months earlier. In July of this year while attending the annual Santa Claus convention in Branson, Mo, (Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus convention) Larry Jefferson met with over 800 other Santas. Unbeknownst to him, though, Santa Larry was being stalked and targeted by another Santa named Sid. Sid was sent by the Mall of America to seek out a Santa of color. Black Santas are rare. “They’re far and few between,” said Jefferson. “That’s why I do it.” It didn’t take much convincing to get Jefferson on board. This would be his biggest gig yet.

Last Thursday was Santa Larry’s first day on the job in Minnesota, but not the first day of playing Santa. He’s been Santa Larry for 17 years now.

Jefferson actually had a lot of practice before officially donning the red suit. Jefferson grew up in a large family and had 11 siblings. He remembers one Christmas when he was 12-years-old, his father’s back was hurting and told him, “I need you to be Santa for me.” He then brought in all of the family’s presents hiding in the car. Another year when his nephews were sick, Jefferson bought a Santa suit and asked his neighbor to drive him to the boys’ home to give them a real surprise. Then again while in the Army reserves (where he served as a captain for 30 years) he became Santa for his fellow soldiers.

Somewhat surprising is how difficult it can be to get a job playing the jolly old elf and even more so if you’re black. Jefferson said he’s had recent potential employers tell him that he wasn’t a “good fit” for them. “Some companies aren’t ready to hire a black Santa or a Hispanic Santa,” he said.

“Minnesota has jumped to the forefront of a lot of states.”

Some people are uncomfortable with Santas of color, but in some parts of the country, they are fairly common. According to MSN, there is a Santa in Houston who wears a zoot suit dances to jazz and hangs out in Mexican-American neighborhoods. Some Santa serving on Native American reservations will often wear some American Indian touches to their traditional red suit. At the Space Needle in Seattle, the Santa there wears a space suit.

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Despite the possible backlash of featuring a black Santa at the Mall of America, the demand for photos with Santa, even a black one, was filled up early. According to the article, some families drove from hours away so that their children could see a black Santa. Jefferson has had some offers to appear on the Steve Harvey Show and is becoming quite the celebrity.

“It’s hilarious to me, I’m really humbled by it,” says Jefferson. “Everyone’s making a big deal about this because I’m a black Santa. But gosh, I’m just Santa! There needs to be more Santas of color, because this is America, and kids need to see a Santa that looks like them,” he said.

“That helps kids to identify with the love and spirit of the holiday, you know?”

[Featured Image by Jim Mone/AP Images]

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