Parents call out racist messages left on 'letters to Santa' in Tennessee museum

26 November 2024

In the weeks following the United States' 2024 presidential election and President-elect Donald Trump's narrow victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, racist messages have been left at the Discovery Park of America — a museum in Union City, Tennessee.

The messages were left in the form of Santa letters, and some visitors to the museum have removed the offensive messages after seeing them.

One of the letters, which was posted on Facebook, read, "I want a slave for Christmas."

Jessie Smith III, a visitor to the museum, told Memphis Channel 3 News. "We are trying to raise our kids the right way in a world full of hate, so we removed them so no one else had to see the mess. Racism is taught, and that's just something that our kids aren't going to be taught. We want them to be kind to everyone in this world."

A spokesperson for Discovery Park of America called out the racist messages and stressed that they don't reflect the views of museum staff.

On Facebook, the spokesperson wrote, "As many of you know, we have a 'Letters to Santa' station as part of our Christmas celebration. From time to time, a guest will write something inappropriate on a letter. That happened tonight, and a guest saw it and let us know."

The spokesperson continued, "Any inappropriate letters are removed and destroyed as soon as we see them. We apologize for any offense this may have caused."

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