Arkansas Neighbourhood ‘Flooded’ With Black Santas After Racist Attacks Man’s Decoration

After a man displaying a Black Santa outside his home received a racist note through his door, the rest of the neighbourhood put up their own Black Santas in support.

Chris Kennedy, from North Little Rock, Arkansas, received the note just before Thanksgiving, condemning his Christmas decorations.

Kennedy then took to Facebook to tell people about the note, which read, ‘You should not try to deceive children into believing that I am a negro. […] You being jealous of my race is no excuse for your dishonesty.’

The anonymous note was signed ‘Santa Claus’, and was accompanied by a picture of a White Santa with two thumbs down.

Speaking about the ordeal to CNN, Kennedy said, ‘The real thing that angered me was the fact that the person who wrote it suggested I move out east where I guess they feel all Black people live.’

He continued, ‘I feel like it’s a combination of politics and actual racism. I am not sure that it was solely about just the Black Santa display as much as it was legitimately just racism, in general.’

Kennedy initially thought the note may have been from the Lakewood Property Owners Association (LPOA), but the director of the association, Evan Blake, has publicly condemned the note, and even went to the Kennedy household to give them a free membership to the LPOA as a way of showing the community’s support.

Blake told CNN, ‘We have never had anyone attack anyone based on their race. Racism is something that we do discriminate against and we will not stand for it.’

Since the neighbourhood caught wind of the ordeal, other residents have gone out of their way to purchase their own Black Santas to put in their yards, and the LPOA has promised to put one in its office once it arrives in the post.

Blake explained, ‘People are buying Black Santas and trying to flood the neighbourhood.’

While Kennedy is understandably flattered at the neighbourhood’s kind gesture, he said he’d much rather people donate to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas for children that don’t get to see their families at Christmas.

To anyone else battling racism, Kennedy says to ‘keep smiling, keep God first and push forward’ and that ‘there are still loving and caring individuals out there’.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org/talk