Larry Jefferson, a retired army veteran from Texas will be the first black Santa hired in Minnesota’s shopping center for the first time in their 24-year history. Every prejudice and racism break with this action, kids are pure souls who don’t know anything about stereotypes, no one is born racist and they deserve to have the Christmas of their dreams.
According to BBC, co-owner of the photo studio said he wanted to find someone with who the children of color can relate, a more diverse Santa when he found Larry Jefferson, a retired army veteran from Texas. He also said he want Santa to be for everyone, searching for the right person was like searching a needle in a haystack.
Larry is more than happy to greet the children, he said they don’t care about your skin color, they only see a red suit and candy. Larry started wearing Santa outfit in 1999 and used to visit his sick nephews at their house who couldn’t experience the holiday spirit as their peers. Larry retired from the US army last year and graduated from Santa University in Denver, Colorado, but he also has a degree in sociology. He grew a white beard and now he is booked all weekend and there is also a waiting list for appointments.
According to the Washington Post, in July, at the annual Santa Claus convention in Branson, Mo, more than 800 professional Santa Clauses showed up from across the country. A Santa recruiter at the convention was looking for someone just like Larry. The organizers offered photo sessions with Santa in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., during the holiday season.
On Thursday, Jefferson had his first day of a four-day stint at the Mall of America making a history as the first black Santa. One woman approached him and said she had been waiting for 25 years for this day while other family told him they drove for hours so they children could meet him. Larry loves to be Santa, one day when he was young, his father was hurt and asked him to put the Christmas presents under the tree which he did with joy. When Larry was in Army, he was Santa for the troops. Once a Santa, always a Santa, he said.
According to Time, Larry said there shouldn’t be so much fuss about him being the first black Santa, at the end, he is just Santa. Larry got famous and he doesn’t want to stop here, he wants to go to White House too.
