Monday, December 22, 2003
The mall has the right to choose who it uses as Santa, the manager said.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Having a black Santa Claus would have caused confusion for hundreds of children at Eastwood Mall, mall manager Ken Kollar says.
Last month, mall officials would not allow a black volunteer to play Santa in a holiday pageant because another Santa Claus in the building is white and children would be confused, he said.
"Traditionally, even in the eyes of blacks, Santa Claus is white," said Kollar, who is white. "The Eastwood Mall is not to be the one to blame for kids [at the mall] believing we don't have a Santa Claus anymore."
Other malls owned by Cafaro Corp. have had black people play Santa, Kollar said, although it has never been the practice at Eastwood, the largest retail center in Trumbull County.
"We are a privately owned company," Kollar said. "We can hire whomever we want."
Monica Beasley-Martin, a substitute teacher in the Youngstown City Schools, who is black, retained an attorney to challenge the mall's stance, which was explained to her and a handful of Youngstown Playhouse volunteers during a meeting in Kollar's office Thursday.
The playhouse provided volunteer actors for holiday events in return for free advertising.
Chain of events
Kollar said the mall had selected one actor it wanted to play Santa for the mall's holiday kickoff celebration in November.
"It was five minutes to 12, and we had no Santa," Kollar said. "The guy we chose did not show up. [Brandon's] mother suggested that we use Brandon, and that is not what we wanted. We have the right to choose who we use."
One of those volunteering, Jonathon Emerson, said that when Beasley-Martin left to get her son, Melissa Householder, the mall's marketing manager, told Emerson that it could not use Brandon.
"She said that they can't have a black Santa," Emerson said. "The problem was that she didn't just say that in front of me -- she said it in front of a bunch of children that were also volunteering, and they got very upset. They didn't understand why there couldn't be a black Santa. It was a bad situation."
Emerson said he found another actor, who was white, to play Santa. He noted that he didn't tell Beasley-Martin or Brandon about Householder's statement because he didn't want to hurt their feelings. However, five days ago, another volunteer told Beasley-Martin about what happened.
"I was shocked, and I wanted a meeting with the mall manager, and that is why we set it up for Thursday," she said.
Meeting
At the meeting, Beasley-Martin asked why her son was passed over to play Santa.
"I totally expected that when we got there, he would tell me that it was all a misunderstanding," but Kollar stood by the decision not to select her son as Santa, she said.
Emerson, who also attended the meeting, said he was saddened by Kollar's position.
"I just can't imagine anyone would feel that way," Emerson said. "I've seen black Santas in New York and all over. Children don't care."
Kollar, who was out of town when the November situation took place, confirmed that Householder told volunteers that a black Santa would not be permitted. He said a black Santa might be possible in the future, if planned for in advance.
Kollar also said that Brandon Martin was too tall and skinny to be a good Santa. He is 6 foot 4 inches and 150 pounds.
Beasley-Martin and her attorney, Gilbert Rucker III, of Warren, disagree.
"The Eastwood Mall has put the X in Xmas, and the X is not the unknown. It is ignorance and racism," Rucker said. "Prejudice should not go hand-in-hand with profit. My clients went to the mall to spread joy and goodwill, and they were met with blanket prejudice and ignorance, and this is not what Christmas is about."
Beasley-Martin said she will not return to the mall until the policy is changed.
"Santa is not about color. Santa is the spirit of the holiday, and they ruined the spirit," Beasley-Martin said.
sinkovich@vindy.com siff@vindy.com