“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…
When this mom couldn’t find a Santa that looked like her family, she took matters into her own hands…
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LifestyleTranscript
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.