Deal Me In 2021 – Week 50
When he left the large house where his mother was a servant, he was happy.
John Henrik Clarke’s short story “Santa Claus Is A White Man” is similar to Langston Hughe’s story “One Christmas Eve”. It also involves a small child’s loss of innocence in the face of racism. In Clarke’s story though, the innocence and the hatred don’t blend together as much. They are more diametrically opposed. The innocence is very innocent and the hatred is harsher, terrifying actually. Not just to a small child but to anyone.
This story is included in A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories edited by Bettye Collier-Thomas. I read it when I selected the Two of Spades for my Deal Me In 2021 short story project. Check out my Deal Me In list here. Deal Me In is sponsored by Jay at Bibliophilopolis.
Mirror with Clouds 