Rufus Seay, 72, was asked to be Santa at the Enoch Davis Community Center in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. [Times photo: Lisa DeJong]

The jolly old elf has not always been as we see him today. He has changed over the centuries, and is changing, as more black people don the fluffy beard and red suit.

By WAYNE WASHINGTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 1999

For a century and a half, the image didn't change.

Santa wore a red and white coat with a thick black belt. He had a long, white beard and a funny red hat. He looked like the kind of man who enjoyed a good meal.

And, of course, Santa was white.

In recent years, however, Santa's been going through some changes. The red coat and hat are still there. So is the black belt. But for more and more black Americans, Santa Claus must be a brother.

Ruben Wakefield, who is Santa at Books for Though in Temple Terrace, said it's important for black children take home the idea that, "Hey, a black man can provide for you." With him is Corey Moore. [Times photo: Jim Stem]

"I tried to take my toddler to the white Santa in Tyrone Square, but she wouldn't go," said Valarie Phillips, a black St. Petersburg mother of two. "My other daughter, when she sees a white Santa, she just says that's somebody wearing a Santa suit."

Black businesses, churches and community centers are increasingly hiring their own Santas.

Rufus Seay, a 72-year-old black man, was asked to be Santa during holiday celebrations at the Enoch Davis Community Center in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night. In Temple Terrace, Ruben Wakefield will bring his Santa act to Books for Thought, a black bookstore on 56th Street. Wakefield's Santa will be at the bookstore again Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 2 to 4 p.m.

How did the nationwide image of Santa -- a stout white guy in a funny suit with a sunny disposition -- change? And, given the folklore of Santa Claus, can he really be a black man?

The answers to those questions go to the heart of Americans' tradition of taking something foreign and making it their own. Santa, in fact, looks like a northern European only because he was drawn that way by Thomas Nast, a prominent 19th century cartoonist for Harper's Weekly.

The legend of St. Nicholas stems from the generosity of a Turkish man about 1,700 years ago, according to historic accounts.

Nicholas, a priest who probably was born in Patara, in what is now Turkey, threw bags of money through the window of a poor nobleman whose daughters could not marry because they had no dowry. Because of Nicholas' generosity, the women could marry and the legend of St. Nick was born.

Northern Europeans particularly liked the tale and passed it on to their children. In the Netherlands, Santa Claus came with an unusual helper: Black Pete.

Black Pete -- portrayed in popular culture there as a white man in blackface -- helped Santa pass out presents to good little boys and girls, but bad children were stuffed in a sack and taken away. Black Pete never caught on in America.

For Americans in the early 1800s, St. Nick was a tall, thin man who wore bishop's robes and rode a white horse.

That all changed in 1863, when Nast brought the main character in Clement Clarke Moore's An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas to life for Harper's Weekly. Nast's drawings feature a hefty man in a red and white coat with a long, flowing beard.

Santa had gone from being a generous Turk to a European-looking man.

Black Americans are now giving him another makeover.

Wakefield, a 42-year-old Tampa resident, couldn't be happier about that. For five years, Wakefield, who is black, has tossed on his Santa suit and set up shop at Books for Thought in Temple Terrace.

During a break from handing out candy canes and drawing out the murmured hopes of little boys and girls, Wakefield said putting a black face on Santa is important.

"I see importance in telling kids, "Hey, a black man can provide for you,' " he said. "I grew up thinking only one type of man can provide for you. I wanted to change that."

From the response Books for Thought has had in the five years it has had a black Santa, Wakefield is well on his way to changing that thinking.

Felecia Wintons, who opened Books for Thought seven years ago, said Wakefield's Santa is more popular with blacks every year. On Saturday, for example, Wintons said more than 40 people braved the wet, chilly weather to make sure their children could sit on a black Santa's lap.

"It's been a tremendous hit," Wintons said. "I have a lot of adults who want to come in and have their pictures taken with Santa, too."

Joseph Conforti, a professor of American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine, said black Santa figurines and other black Santa paraphernalia are not simply a magnanimous nod to multiculturalism.

"It's a recognition of blacks as consumers," said Conforti, who specializes in holidays and observances.

Conforti said white Americans embraced the legend of Santa Claus and Christmas during the 19th century, as the middle class came to a new understanding of children as innocent youths.

Gift-giving became a larger part of the holiday, Conforti said, and Santa Claus fit right in.

These days, holiday decorations at malls aren't complete unless Santa's in the house.

Santa Plus of St. Peters, Mo., which provides Santas for malls across the country, said they don't make any extra effort to ensure some of the Santas are black.

"We're color-blind when it comes to hiring," said Duane Ackerman, a district manager for Santa Plus. "We're an equal-opportunity employer."

Still, a black Santa in a mall is rare. So, some blacks have hired their own Santas for holiday celebrations.

Navita James, director of Africana studies at the University of South Florida, said blacks simply are demonstrating how thoroughly American they are in making Santa their own.

"We are appropriating something that's been presented to us as white," James said. "In many ways, African-Americans are seeking artifacts that reflect our presence and influence in this culture. We are participants."

-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Staff writer Wayne Washington can reached at (813) 226-3387 or at washington@sptimes.com.

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