Man receives racist note after putting up Black Santa decoration

A man in Arkansas received a racist note after putting up an inflatable Black Santa in front of his house. 

Chris Kennedy, who lives in North Little Rock, received an anonymous racist letter condemning the decoration, according to CNN. Kennedy read the letter during a livestream on Facebook. 

“Please remove your negro Santa Clause yard decoration. You should not try to deceive children into believing that I am a negro,” the letter said, according to THV11. “I am a Caucasian white man to you and have been for the past 600 years. Your being jealous of my race is no excuse for your dishonesty.”

“Besides that, you are making yourself the laughing stock of the neighborhood,” it continued.

During the livestream, Kennedy said he was “trying to be as nice as I can,” according to CNN. He added that he was “actually filled with rage.” 

Kennedy also showed an image of a white Santa with two thumbs down and a label taped to the envelope the letter came in, which resembled the Lakewood Property Owners Association’s (LPOA) logo, CNN noted. 

LPOA’s executive director, Evan Blake, told THV11 that the letter did not come from the association.

“We don’t want the people that wrote that letter in the neighborhood,” Blake told THV11. “That’s what we don’t want.” 

Kennedy told CNN that he felt like “a combination of politics and actual racism” may have motivated the person to send him the letter. He noted that other residents have shared similar racist experiences. 

Blake told the news outlet that people bought Black Santas in support of Kennedy and that LPOA would display its decoration once it arrives.