Lets get one thing clear, Larry Jefferson-Gamble has been playing Santa since he was 12-years-old, a Christmas where his Dad hurt his back and Larry was asked to step in. Fast-forward many many years later and Larry has been a professional Santa for 17 years now!

And you know what. Santa’s beard isn’t fake when Larry is in the role and Santa’s cheer is nothing but joyous. People absolutely love Larry. Minnesota’s Mall Of America picked up Larry, unlikely because of the media attention but because he is genuinely a joy to all those that cross paths with him.

Larry is a U.S. Veteran, Larry is a seemingly kind man, Larry is a man we all should look up to. He cares about his community and for many young POCs he represents that Santa is for them too, and a black Santa is for little priviledged white kids too, there is no reason why not. Larry is an American santa.

Most people get it, there shouldn’t even be a controversy here.

HOWVER, there are those people. You know, those dumb fu*king racists, the ones who spend their time on Youtube comment sections, the ones who tweet relentlessly and the ones who seem to be in many levels of conservatove government positions.

Some are ALT-Right, some consider themselves White Supremacist, some are so stupid they don’t even realise what racism is but they perpetuate it with every wobble of their lips.

So, yes, a boycott was asked for, white assholes are outraged.

Peter Morgan on CBS Minnesota wrote, “Stupid. Incredibly stupid. Santa is WHITE. BOYCOTT Mall of America. Maybe they should change their name to MALL of RAGHEAD LAND.”

And there have been countless other racist tweets and facebook posts and comments, the Star Tribune even had to shut down it’s comments section!

For a start, Christmas is a Christian based holiday (originally), doubtful that a muslim would want to play Santa BUT, you know what? If he or even she wanted to spread joy and cheer and he was good at it, bring them on.

Santa isn’t real, Santa is a fiction of imagination, one who brings joy to kids, one who lights up lives for a few days a year.

Larry is the real Santa Claus.