Meet the mom bringing Black Santas to children

Brut America

“Santa can be white. He can be Black. He can be anywhere in between.”  When this mom couldn’t find a Santa that looked like her family, she took matters into her own hands…

Transcript

00:00Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

00:03Santa can be whoever you want him to be.

00:06You know, he can be white, he can be black, he can be anywhere in between.

00:17I have a set of twin boys, and around the time that I created the app,

00:20they were about three years old.

00:22In the holiday season, in the holiday rush, I wanted to take Santa photos,

00:27but I wanted a Santa that represented our family.

00:29So I went searching, and it was extremely difficult to find one.

00:34And so I figured if I had difficulty finding a Santa,

00:37other families probably did, too.

00:38That's where kind of the idea sparked,

00:41and it's kind of flourished over the past three holiday seasons.

00:52I am a board-certified psychiatrist.

00:55I also have specialized training in child and adolescent psychiatry.

00:58And so one of the things that I looked into as a fellow

01:02in my child and adolescent psychiatry program

01:05is how parents and the messages that they send to their children,

01:09whether it be, you know, explicit or not about race, how it impacts them.

01:14And so what we find is that, you know, kids who have a positive understanding

01:19or a positive idea of their race have higher self-esteem.

01:26They tend to have higher academic achievement,

01:30choose less risky behaviors.

01:32Who's at the door?

01:34Who's at the door?

01:35Ho, ho, ho!

01:36Merry Christmas, girl!

01:39Santa!

01:42Merry Christmas!

01:45We have to make sure that kids at a very young age,

01:50they begin to see images of themselves,

01:53regardless of their color, race, or creed.

01:56According to forensic scientists who studied research

01:59originally commissioned by the Vatican,

02:01he probably looked something like this.

02:27In my childhood, did I see the Black Santas? No.

02:30Black Santa has certainly become more popular, you know, over the years,

02:34especially this year.

02:35I mean, since I've kind of been in this business since 2018,

02:38I've seen so many big box retailers, small businesses

02:43create products and merchandise and accessories

02:46that are so much more diverse and inclusive.

02:56You go find Black Santa at the North Pole.

03:15He's white here.

03:16I don't understand why people feel they need a Black Santa Claus.

03:21It's not about race, it's about representation

03:24and making sure that all kids feel represented,

03:27all families are represented in the spirit of Christmas.

03:30He has a message to anyone who might think

03:32Santa can only be played by someone who's white.

03:35Get over it, you know? I'm just Santa Claus.

03:38I'm just Larry, a person who's portraying a character.

03:41Santa does not look one particular way,

03:44and I think we've kind of got stuck in that mentality,

03:47the way, you know, kind of Santa Claus was introduced,

03:49you know, in the United States.

03:51Who would have thought that maybe 30, 40 years ago,

03:53that Black Santa would be a staple in people's homes?

03:56It's really awesome to see that people really are taking on to it

03:59and really appreciate it.

04:01That's why I keep doing it.

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