NILES Woman says mall wouldn't let son play Santa Claus because he's black

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 -- A Youngstown woman said she wants the Eastwood Mall to change its stance on whether to use her son as Santa Claus because he's black.
Monica Beasley-Martin, a substitute teacher in the Youngstown City School District, said Ken Kollar, Eastwood Mall manager, told her and others during a meeting Thursday afternoon that the mall's position is not to have a black Santa Claus.
According to an audio tape of the meeting, when Kollar was asked to explain the mall's decision not to have a black Santa, he said the Eastwood Mall can do what it wants. He went on to explain that the mall is privately owned. In the tape, Kollar neither acknowledged nor denied that the mall has a policy against using blacks as Santa Claus.
Reached by telephone after the meeting, Kollar said no one can tell the Eastwood Mall who to choose for any position. He then said that Brandon Martin was not chosen as the Santa because he is 6 feet 4 inches and 110 pounds.
Brandon, a freshman theater major at Youngstown State University, is 6 feet 3 inches and 150 pounds, according to his mother.
"He wouldn't make a good Santa," Kollar said.
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."
Last-minute rush
According to Kollar, the mall had asked the Youngstown Playhouse to provide actors to play Santa and other characters during the Christmas shopping season. 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."
The actors volunteered their services.
Jonathon Emerson, who was one of those volunteering, said that when Beasley-Martin left to get her son, Melissa Householder, the mall's marketing manager, told him that it cannot 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.
'Shocked'
"I was shocked, and I wanted a meeting with the mall manager, and that is why we set it up for Thursday," she said. "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."
Beasley-Martin said she will not return to the mall until the mall's position 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