These Days, Santa Comes In Many Races And Colors Santa Claus Knows No Bias; Why Then Should We?

These days, the Santas at department stores come in as many races and colors as the children who eagerly climb on their laps to confide Christmas wishes.

There are black Santas, Asian Santas, Santas who speak Spanish and even Santas who know sign language.

“I think that when you go to a mall and all you see are white Santa Clauses, you feel excluded,” said Felix Liddell, who researched African American art for “Merry Christmas, Baby,” a newly released compilation of essays and poetry on Christmas and Kwanzaa, with his wife, writer Paula Woods.

“It’s not just Santa. It’s the Three Wise Men, baby Jesus, even (Barbie). The images we see are only white, but society has become extremely multi-cultural. People should feel as included and as inclusive as possible.”

In Seattle, the black Santa Claus is almost as big a draw as his jolly, wide and white counterpart.

On a recent afternoon, the line for pictures and videos with Wes Baker, The Bon Marche’s black Santa Claus, snaked out the Third Avenue entrance. His helpers, bedecked in red stocking caps, whispered to waiting parents, “The Santa Claus on duty is black.”

Most shrugged, accepting that traditions evolve. Their youngsters flock to Baker’s knee. They are having fun. Some cry. Most laugh, giddy in the presence of the king of gifts.

Among them are Kenneth and Lisa Ahlburg’s three children. Kenneth Ahlburg, 53, grew up with the celluloid image of the Santa Claus who created the miracle on 34th Street for a wide-eyed Natalie Wood.

Nevertheless, he regards the more-inclusive definition of Santa Claus as “refreshing.”

“There ought to be all kinds of Santa Clauses,” he said. Days after the encounter with Baker, his youngest son noted offhandedly that Santa was brown. Then he moved on to another subject.

Not all the parents were as open to change.

One couple at The Bon asked that a white Santa Claus come out to hear the wishes of their 6-year-old son. Molly Anderson, who coordinates Santaland photos at the downtown Bon, acquiesced, sneaking an off-duty Santa Claus into a nearby stairwell to visit with the boy.

Some onlookers said the parents’ request was ridiculous. The child, they pointed out, seemed unfazed by Santa Claus’ skin color. But others said that the couple’s motivation wasn’t much different from numerous black, Latino and Asian parents who scheduled their visits to coincide with Baker’s thrice-weekly schedule.

Parent Maleka Eman traveled by bus from Everett with her three children so the family could film a Christmas carol video in the lap of a man who resembled them.

“My children say they really believe in Santa now because they can relate to him as a person who understands their ethnic background.”

Visiting a black Santa also provides children from single-parent homes with a much-needed black male role model, said Eman, a single mother.

“Our children are drawing black Santa Clauses,” said Doug Wheeler, principal of Zion Preparatory Academy, a private elementary school with an almost entirely African American enrollment.