Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, Saint Nicholas: over the centuries, the Christmastime legend has worn many hats. But in the United States, what race Santa is presented as remains a controversial topic. The figure of Santa Claus has a rich and complex history, deeply intertwined with social and political movements. The evolution of Santa Claus, particularly the emergence of African American Santas, reflects significant milestones in the struggle for civil rights and equality in the United States.
Santa Claus, portrayed by Andre Parker, greets children at the Georgia Parent Teacher Association in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 21, 2023.
An Evolving Image
On conservative media outlets, the topic is a regular feature of the holiday season. In 2013, then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly hosted an entire panel on the subject, opening the conversation with a message: “By the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white.” Ten years later, in 2023, the news channel was once again dissecting the subject.
“It doesn’t make sense. You have to ask yourself: Why do they keep pushing this? Who are they trying to appeal to?” Riley Gaines, a Fox guest host, said as a figurine of a Black Santa Claus in a wheelchair flashed across the screen. It was the same perspective that Moss had encountered more than half a century prior.
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A performer playing Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, arrives in Amsterdam in the Netherlands on November 5, 2016.
Growing Up with Segregation
Growing up in the countryside on the outskirts of LaGrange, Georgia, Moss attended a one-room public schoolhouse. When it burned down, the county did not bother to rebuild it, Moss says. It was a time of segregation in the southern United States, and a poorly funded, poorly supplied school for Black children was considered no great loss. So Moss and his four siblings got their education instead at the nearby Baptist church, Old Mount Olive.
Even Christmas celebrations in LaGrange were divided along racial lines. “In my community, there were two images of Santa Claus,” Moss explains. “In our community, in church or in school, the person who played the role of Santa Claus was Black. But in the wider community, in the stores and in other presentations, Santa Claus was white.” That division nagged at the young Moss, spurring him to mull “unasked questions”. What, for example, did it mean to have a Black Santa in one place, and a white one in another?
Reverend Otis Moss Jr holds a 'Welcome Back' sign as Martin Luther King Jr leaves Reidsville State Prison in Georgia on October 27, 1960.
A Civil Rights Battleground
Even before Moss was born, the holiday season had been a civil rights battleground - and Santa Claus played a prominent role. He was there in 1863, midway through the US Civil War, sitting high atop a sleigh stacked with gifts for Union soldiers. One young drummer boy marvels at a wind-up jack-in-the-box toy. An older soldier, stocky and bearded, lifts a stocking filled with treats.
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Santa Claus himself dangles a lanky wooden puppet from a string - a figure meant to mock the leader of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, a vocal defender of slavery in the southern states. That image, which appeared on the cover of the national publication Harper’s Weekly, is considered one of the defining moments in the creation of the modern-day Santa Claus.
Larry Jefferson greets children as Santa Claus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
No longer was Saint Nick a stern, wizened figure. Cartoonist Thomas Nast had reimagined him as a jolly, elven man with a pointy hat and a paunchy belly. The year the cartoon was published marked a turning point in the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in US history. That year started with the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order from Washington, DC, declaring all enslaved people in the Confederacy to be free. It ended with key victories like the Battle of Gettysburg, which stopped the Confederacy’s advance northward, leaving it on the defensive.
In Nast’s hands, Santa Claus was a symbol for the Union cause, clad in the stars and stripes of the US flag. In other hands, however, Santa was a propaganda tool of a different sort, helping to reinforce racial stereotypes. Minstrel shows in the late 19th century married the figure with Blackface makeup to create imitation Santa Clauses who served as counterpoints to the benevolent white ones.
But Black communities were also formulating their own version of Santa Claus, separate from the stereotypes designed to demean them. By the 20th century, Black Santa Clauses had started to appear, offering a different narrative for the holiday season: one hinged on representation and empowerment.
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A Santa Claus poses for a photograph at Abidjan Mall in Abidjan on the Ivory Coast on December 19, 2017.
In 1917, for instance, the Black Dispatch newspaper in Oklahoma published a cartoon on its front page showing an African American Santa scaling a wooden fence, each panel tagged with an obstacle to equality: segregation, mob violence, race hate and ill-paid labour. Over the Santa's shoulder was slung a bag filled with packages labelled “love”, “education” and “justice”.
The Fight for Representation
In the postwar years following WWII, the Black Santa gave civil rights campaigners a new way to gain attention to their cause. Many activists called out the portrayal of Santa as a white man as an example of whitewashing even childrens’ stories. More and more black Santas got hired to work in malls and department stores nationwide the following decade. Among them was the famous Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan.
Even in recent years, the presence of a Black Santa Claus has sparked both positive and negative reactions. In 2016, the decision by the Mall of America to host their first Black Santa in the mall’s history initially received a positive response, only later to be met with scorn and backlash on social media.
The story of the African American Santa Claus is a testament to the ongoing struggle for representation and equality in the United States. It highlights how even seemingly innocuous cultural symbols can become powerful tools in the fight for civil rights. The evolving image of Santa Claus reflects the changing dynamics of race and identity in American society, underscoring the importance of inclusivity and diversity in all aspects of life.
| Year | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1863 | Harper's Weekly Cartoon | Modern Santa Claus as a symbol of the Union cause. |
| Late 19th Century | Minstrel Shows | Blackface Santas used to reinforce racial stereotypes. |
| 1917 | Black Dispatch Cartoon | African American Santa promoting equality. |
| 1960s | Civil Rights Movement | Black Santa as a symbol of black empowerment. |
| 2016 | Mall of America | First Black Santa faces both praise and backlash. |
