Black Santa Has Always Been In Demand
Representation matters, especially in the year that mega-racism merged with Covid-19
For Warren Keyes, 66, the transformation from his regular self into Black Santa is all about getting the image exactly right.
The white beard? Natural. That booming “Ho! Ho! Ho!?” Perfected after eight years of playing Santa and dozens of years working as a voice artist and theater actor. The red suit? Straight from a Hollywood costume shop and at a cost of $1,000, a serious investment of which he takes meticulous care.
“I wanted to get the best,” he says. “It really gets attention when I go out.”
But unlike years past, Keyes — who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina — won’t be greeting kids in person. The Covid-19 pandemic means most of his interactions this holiday season will be virtual. Then, fold in 2020’s emphasis on equity and race this year in the United States, and it’s easy to see why the fuller palette of brown-skinned Santas is seeing a spike in demand. Consumer demand demands a Black Santa, and it is easier to book one digitally now due to the normalization of Covid-era Zooms.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” says Keyes, who is booked via Santas Like Me, a service based in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, area.
