He was harassed for the Black Santa on his lawn. Now, he’s a professional Black Santa.

It’s been two years since Chris Kennedy received a racist letter demanding that he remove the seven-foot inflatable Black Santa on his front lawn in North Little Rock.

“Please remove your negro Santa Claus yard decoration,” the letter, signed by an anonymous “Santa Claus,” read. “You should try not to deceive children into believing that I am negro. I am a caucasian (white man, to you) and have been for the past 600 years.”

Not only did Kennedy keep his Black Santa in place, but he also added a second one. His neighbors stood in solidarity, adorning their own front lawns with Black Santas.

Although Kennedy was deeply touched by the show of community support, he decided there was more he wanted to do to increase representation - and put the letter-writer, whose identity was never uncovered, in their place. He became a trained Santa Claus, saying he’d never seen another professional Black Santa in Arkansas.

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