December 2022 - “Black Santas Matter"
Chris Kennedy received a racist letter for the holidays signed, “Santa.” It read, in part, “Please remove your negro Santa Claus yard decoration. I am a caucasian (white man, to you) and have been for the past 600 years.” This story in the Washington Post last month got me wondering. Who “owns” Christmas? Who gets to have their race represented in this winter celebration?
Certainly, the racial identity of Jesus Christ is discussed around the world. Now public creche displays and paintings that center a Black baby Jesus are provoking conversations in places like Australia, Columbia, and Italy. As anti-immigrant hysteria over African and middle eastern refugees grows, Black Jesus is generating nativist backlash. But to Mario Giulio Schinaia, chief Public Prosecutor in Verona, Italy, we should emphasize the inclusive spirit of this holiday. Besides, Schinaia explains, “[h]istory teaches us that baby Jesus and his parents were very probably dark-skinned.”
Back in the early 1900s, the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis, showed portraits of a black Mary and Jesus. Nativity plays in black churches often feature a black doll as the infant Jesus. Black Nativity, a dramatic adaptation of a Langston Hughes book soon to be a movie, continues to color Christmas that has for a long time been exclusively white.
One Christmas tradition important to me as a young person was not racially diverse. The Nutcracker, by Connecticut Ballet where I served as a stagehand, had whites in nearly all rolls, from toy soldiers to sugar plum fairies. 25 years later, when my eldest child was part of the Washington Ballet’s version, it was a more multicultural cast.
This was only possible because Black artists worked to broaden ballet’s racial diversity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Sylvester Campbell drew Black youth into dance at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Stephanie Powell danced in one of the first “Urban Nutcracker Ballets.” The rising popularity of Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite, a jazzy updating of Tchaikovsky’s nineteenth-century version, may have also helped. And the Dance Theater of Harlem certainly led more Black dancers to perform in The Nutcracker.
But Chris Kennedy had few trailblazers when responding to racist hate-mail about Santa. Yet, he doubled down, added a second Black Santa to his yard. After dressing as Santa for his 4-year-old daughter, he decided to become a professional Black Santa. He attended “Santa Camp.” Run by the New England Santa Society, this camp was filled mainly with whites. Kennedy was impressed with the commitment to inclusion on the part of camp management. They’d received “tons of requests for Black Santas” from organizations and businesses. Now there’s an app called “Find Black Santa'' available from Apple and Google.
At camp, Kennedy read the racist letter he had received to the other campers. Then, ceremoniously, he tossed it into the campfire. Much of his lingering resentment disappeared in smoke. Nowadays he’s in high demand and loves making children smile. His resilience and determination makes this holiday season both more joyous and inclusive. Ho, ho, ho…
Further Action
1) Support Black-led and organized holiday events, through contributions or simply by attending their performances in your area.
2) Ensure that arts education is available to all students regardless of economic, racial, or geographic background. Advocate for Schools of the Arts in your public education system.
3) Donate holiday-themed books featuring protagonists of color to your local library.
4) When doing your holiday shopping, support Black-owned businesses, as promoted in Los Angeles by Black Lives Matter.
5) Learn more about a winter holiday created by African Americans by going to the Smithsonian Museum Kwanzaa page.
Note: Thanks to Angela Rodgers-Koukoui, Outreach and Public Services Coordinator for the University of Baltimore for information about Black dancers in ballet.
Read more about this issue through these links:
The Washington Post (11-28-22)
The Guardian (8-1-22)