Story highlights
The Mall of America will host a black Santa for the first time ever
Santa Experience owner Landon Luther wanted "a Santa for everyone"
For the first time ever, the Mall of America is hosting an African-American Santa.
Santa’s real name is Larry Jefferson, and he hails from Texas. (Don’t let your kids read this.)
“It’s no big deal, I’m still Santa, I just happen to be a Santa of Color,” Jefferson told CNN affiliate WCCO.
Jefferson will spend four days taking pictures with families and listening to Christmas wishes, by appointment only.
“We are looking to have a Santa for everyone,” Santa Experience owner Landon Luther told WCCO.
Luther met Jefferson at the Santa Convention in Missouri over the summer, and out of 1,000 Santas, Jefferson was the only black Santa.
Though this is a historic first for the nation’s largest mall, Jefferson says… “Santa is still just Santa.”
The Mall of America has been open for almost 25 years.