2020 Ends on High Note for Arkansas Neighborhood Where the Holidays Were Marred by Racism

A powerful instance of community harmony and unity unfolded in Arkansas just as the year was ending in the midst of the most subdued Christmas in living memory.

Chris Kennedy’s home in Little Rock (youtube.com)
Chris Kennedy’s home in North Lttle Rock (youtube.com)
 

On November 23 in Lakewood, a neighborhood in North Little Rock, Chris Kennedy received an anonymous, racist rant in his mailbox after he and his 4-year-old daughter Emily decorated their front yard with an inflatable Black Santa.

“Please remove your negro Santa Claus yard decoration,” demanded the letter that was signed “Santa Claus,” reported the Washington Post. “You should try not to deceive children into believing that I am negro. I am Caucasian (white man, to you) and have been for the past 600 years.”

The hateful message included an image of a white Santa Claus, with two thumbs pointing down. “You are making yourself the laughingstock of the neighborhood,” the missive said, adding: “Obviously, your values are not that of the Lakewood area and maybe you should move to a neighborhood out east with the rest of your racist kind.”

Kennedy began a live stream on Facebook shortly after receiving the nasty letter.

“I just got something in the mail that is one, incredibly offensive, and two, just says where we are,” he said in the video, emphasizing that the Black Santa display had never been a problem until this year. “It’s very disheartening because it’s holiday time—we’re in a pandemic.”

The video triggered an outpouring of support for the Kennedys. Their neighbors in the mostly white community began putting up Black Santas on their own yards in a gesture of solidarity that captured the true spirit of Christmas.

One note, posted on Facebook, read, ’Dear Neighbor, I saw the video posted. It broke my heart. I live near you and I look forward to your Black Santa and other Christmas decor every year. It brings light that our neighborhood is diverse and accepting. Please do not let the hate of one neighbor let you down. I promise you there are many more of us who love your yard. You and your family are a part of this community as much as anyone else. We see you. We hear you. We stand with you.” 

Kennedy’s 31-year-old wife, Iddy, said she was “genuinely hurt” by the letter, not least because it made her question “if we had made the right choice—if this was the right environment to raise our daughter.”

Among the first of Kennedy’s neighbors to put a Black Santa outside his house was Chip Welch, a 70-year-old white man who has lived in Lakewood with his wife for more than 20 years.

“We were all pretty concerned about it, and we decided it would be poetic for everyone to get Black Santas,” he explained, adding that the camaraderie shown by the community is “making me feel like I wasn’t wrong about our neighborhood.”

Many people asked Kennedy if they could send his family donations. Kennedy directed their requests to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas that serves families of children being treated at local hospitals and supports community programs that address children’s needs. 

More than $1,000 in donations was raised in the Kennedy family’s honor, according to Janell Mason, the charity’s executive director. “It’s so touching,” she said, “it just is humanity doing good things.”

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