Macy's has a secret black Santa – for those who know how to ask

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/macys-secret-black-santa-claus-new-york

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At 2.2m sq ft, the sprawling branch of Macy’s at Herald Square, New York, is the largest department store in the US and its Santaland Junction is a tightly organized, richly decorated paradise/hell of screaming children and yelling parents, queuing for a short audience with a big man.

As part of the attraction, the store tries hard to maintain the fiction that there is “only one Santa Claus”. But everyone apart from the youngest children knows that’s not true. A much better-kept secret, though, is that for years, the store has offered an alternative Santa for those who know to ask. The difference: he’s black.

The revelation was made this week by the Animal New York blog, who pursued a rumour in the light of remarks by the Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who proclaimed definitively that Santa (and Jesus) was white. 

Animal New York published a picture of the encounter, and a CNN reporter repeated the trick. CBS New York interviewed a parent who said she had been bringing her family to see the “secret” Santa for 10 years. 

The company refused point blank to enter into a discussion about the bizarre practice on Tuesday. “At Macy's, we have upheld the tradition and believe in our hearts that there is only one Santa Claus, and that Santa is all things to all people who believe in the spirit and goodness of Santa,” it said in a prepared statement, upon which it declined to elaborate. 

On the morning of Christmas Eve, the wait time to see Santa vacillated between three-and-a-half to four hours long. A sign warns that there is no access to a bathroom during this time and employees in striped hats, wired with communication headsets, patrol the line. “I’m 16 years old, I’m too old for this,” screamed one child. 

According to a local CBS affiliate, Bronx-resident Elizabeth Kittles has been bringing her family to see the “secret” Santa Claus for ten years. “An elf just told me as I was going through Santaland,” Kittles said. “It’s great that they have that option, but it would be great if they put it out there either on the visitors’ website or when they advertise when Santaland is open.” 

The CNN reporter who braved a two-hour wait on Monday reported that the "elves" who supervise the Santa line all know about the "secret" version.

Almost all the elves I encountered seemed to know what I meant by "special" Santa. They ushered me just to the side while an elf went to see whether he was ready.

While I waited, 25 families were brought in, escorted by elves, to three separate areas to see Santas. Presumably, the Santas are hidden in separate areas so that no child sees more than one.

During my wait, I made friends with an elf who was, amazingly, even cheerier and more helpful than all the others I met along the way. The kids were mesmerized by all the elves' joy.

My new elf friend told me that my Santa needed a "costume change." After about 10 minutes, he was ready for me. 

I headed to a room towards the back – a fourth route where none of the other 25 families had gone.

In the quiet room was a black Santa, jolly as could be. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and even urged me to ask for more.

The necessity of the “costume change” is not revealed, but the obvious conclusion is that “secret Santa” is very much an on-demand service. 

Meanwhile in Washington DC, Ohio and California, people travel to malls that host black Santas without subterfuge. Timothy Connaghan, who leads the "University of Santa Claus "in Los Angeles, told the LA Times that the amount of black to white Santa Clauses is “very lopsided.” 

Connaghan said in the decade since he opened his school, he has had three black students, of the more than 2,200 he has trained. 

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