Have you thought about the race of Santa Claus? Is Santa black, white or a racial mixture? What ethnicity is an Appalachian Santa Claus?
Let’s review. The region of Appalachia includes 420 counties in 13 states and is home to more than 25 million people. Appalachia extends from southern New York to northeastern Mississippi.
First of all, the jolly, red-nosed white man and bearer of Christmas gifts is a fictional North American character. The Santa Claus legend can be traced back to St. Nicholas, a Christian monk who lived in the fourth century. Over time, many stories and legends circled the earth about St. Nicholas' good deeds. What color was St. Nicholas? Go google The Real Face of Santa, a controversial documentary and you decide.
Let’s converse about the history of the black Santa. In 1919, the Pittsburg Daily Post printed a story about the first black Santa. In 1943, a department store in Harlem hired its first black Santa. In the 1970s a few stores began to hire black Santas. Macy’s department store in New York has featured a black Santa for several years, but he is located far away from the white Santa. Because children believe in only one Santa, putting a black one and a white one together would ruin the myth that Santa is real. That’s Macy’s explanation.
Fast forward to now. In 2016, the Mall of America in Minnesota hired its first black Santa. A backlash from adults ensued over a black Santa, but the children voiced no objections.
What do children think about the color of Santa? NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (2009) reviewed the following study. In 1996, a professor from Ohio State University observed two first-grade classes with a total of 33 children with two-thirds being white and the remaining kids being black or of mixed race. The notion of a black Santa was introduced when the teachers read the Afrocentric version of ‘Twas the Night B'fore Christmas. The white children reacted in disbelief. The black children reacted with excitement. What happened next? A black Santa visited the classrooms. Some white children rejected Santa as black and some accepted him. Most black children accepted Santa as black but one black child questioned his authenticity. Later, when the teachers asked the children to draw Santa, all drew him with white skin.
Children are influenced by the dominant white culture in North America. Have you ever set eyes on a black Santa in Appalachia? I haven’t.
Will Appalachian people make room for the possibility of an African-American Santa, a Hispanic Santa, an Asian Santa, a Native American Santa or a Santa of any other color besides Caucasian? Should each race only portray a Santa with the same skin color?
I hope this article sparks peaceful conversations about diversity, race and multiculturalism in Appalachia. I exclaim, “Merry Christmas to children and Santas of all skin colors and to all, a good night.”
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is a self-syndicated newspaper columnist and the author of a children’s picture book which features a multiracial family. View her website at www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com. She is an Ohio University alum and resides in southern Ohio Appalachia.
