Normally, “very large mall hires additional Santa” is not a news story, let alone an interesting one. At the Mall of America near Minneapolis, however, it is news, because one of the country’s relatively few African-American Santas is coming to the mall for a four-day visit.

The mall’s simulated North Pole is called The Santa Experience, and the business is welcoming its first Santa of Color, as he calls himself, for four days beginning today. The owner of the Santa Experience met him while visiting a Santa convention, which is a thing that exists and apparently a good place to recruit Santas for his holiday attraction.

“We had close to a thousand Santas there, and I was the only Santa of color,” Santa Larry told CBS Minnesota. He’s not the only one in the country, since Santa recruits a diverse group of helpers to listen to kids’ requests.

Some children enjoy visiting with a Santa who looks more like them, and others shrug it off. Of course, some percentage children will always find Santas of all races completely terrifying.

Photos and meetings with Santa Larry are by appointment only, and he will only be there through Sunday. He normally lives and Santas in Dallas.

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