An Interview With The Mall Of America’s First Black Santa
BRANSON MO NEWS: After spending four days at the Mall of America, Santa Larry is back in Texas to continue spreading holiday cheer.
December 9, 2016By Doyin Oyeniyi
The Mall of America, the largest indoor shopping center in the United States in Bloomington, Minnesota, had never hosted a black Santa for its Christmas festivities since it opened in 1992. This year the owners of the Mall of America’s Santa Experience decided to change that and sought out multicultural Santas to add to their roster. That search resulted in the discovery of Larry Jefferson, a retired U.S. Army veteran from Irving who’s been working as Santa throughout the DFW area since 1999. After meeting another Santa from the Mall of America at a Santa convention in Missouri, Jefferson was interviewed and hired to work at the shopping behemoth for four days.
Although most families welcomed this historical inclusion on the Mall of America’s Santa roster, others weren’t pleased about what they believed to be an inaccurate portrayal of a fictional character. According to the Huffington Post, reports of Jefferson’s time at the Mall of America were flooded with racist comments, but the “Grinches”—as Jefferson refers to them—haven’t …
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