Dreaming of a White Christmas?

Recently, the Mall of America hired an African-American veteran to play Santa. The racist trolls on the Internet went full-on conniption, threatening to boil Santa Larry in a Figgy Pudding and to bury him with a stake of holly through his heart. Information is HERE.

This is certainly not the first time a militant Christmas Clan has upset the pear tree cart. Back in the late 1800s, Spendthrift’s Department Store in Washerst, PA (the birthplace of America’s greatest poet, Emmett Lee Dickinson), hired an African-American to play the part of Santa in their Winter Wonderland, and a hostile group headed by a man named Fredreich Drümpf tried to organize a boycott of the store. The yuletide skirmish fizzled, though, because the progressive citizens of Washerst flocked to Spendthrift’s to support their holiday spirit.

Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) wrote his now-classic poem “That can’t be ‘Santa’” (below on the left) about the uproar.  His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “It can’t be ‘Summer’” (below on the right).
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By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
That can’t be “Santa”!
They – got there!
It’s eerie – yet – for “That”!
There’s that long line of Whites – to sit –
Upon that Black man’s lap!
Even if “Trying”!
He’s too Beige –
The Dopes insist on White –
So Closed Minds shut the long line down
For Kids at Christmas time!
​

By Emily Dickinson:
 
It can’t be “Summer”!
That – got through!
It’s early – yet – for “Spring”!
There’s that long town of White – to cross –
Before the Blackbirds sing!
It can’t be “Dying”!
It’s too Rouge –
The Dead shall go in White –
So Sunset shuts my question down
With Cuffs of Chrysolite!

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Washerst, PA, has always been a progressive city!  In addition to hiring the first African-American to play Santa at Spendthrift's Department Store, the city is also known for many other "firsts."  A few examples:

* Washerst was the first city in America in install sidewalks – even though many Christian groups protested the fact that sidewalks would result in "devil strips" throughout the city (the strip of grass between a sidewalk and  the curb).

* Washerst as the first city to allow "doggie bags" in restaurants.

​* Washerst is the first city to design and develop a public park and playground on the site of a matress dump.

* It is also the only city in Pennsylvania to have had an elected official without a criminal record (it's happened twice in the city's history).