Arkansas homeowner has made the decision to not allow racism in his neighborhood to stop him from spreading Christmas joy. Chris Kennedy of North Little Rock was surprised to get an anonymous letter from a white-identifying neighbor last year demanding he takes down an inflatable Black Santa that was apart of his Christmas display. In the letter, the unknown author alleges they were “Santa” accuses Kennedy of “being jealous of my race.”
“Please remove your negro Santa Clause yard decoration. You should not try to deceive children into believing that I am a negro,” the letter read. “I am caucasian (white man, to you) and have been for the past 600 years. Your being jealous of my race is no excuse for your dishonesty. Besides that, you are making yourself the laughing stock of the neighborhood. Obviously, your values are not that of the Lakewood area and maybe you should move to a neighborhood out east with the rest of your racist kind. Yours truly, Santa Claus.”
It was the fourth year Kennedy decorated using the Santa but it was the first time got the letter. “I’ve done this every year and haven’t had any issues,” he told KARK in 2020.
The homeowner admits that the letter made him hesitant to put up his holiday display this year, but he still plans on moving forward with the tradition. “The display is always about my daughter and what she wants,” he told KFOR News 4. “She wants to decorate right now and we haven’t done it yet just because of time, circumstances with work, and honestly a bit of the backlash from last year…”
Kennedy was inspired to start a new tradition of becoming a Black Santa himself after he was invited to Santa Camp with New England’s Santa Society after the news made headlines about the letter he got. Kennedy will spread Christmas joy this year virtually this month, and in person in his community in December.
“I know there are little kids out there that look like me, that will get to see a Santa that looks like them and that’s what brings me the most joy,” he said.
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