African American Santa Claus Langston Patterson, 77, poses with Jordan Petterway (L), 1, and Jaiden Morman (R), 2, at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall in Los Angeles, California, December 16, 2013. Patterson has worked as Santa since 2004 at the mall, which is one of the few in the country with a black Santa Claus. A New Mexico teacher who told an African American student that Santa Claus was white has been put on paid administrative leave, an official said on Monday. [Photo/Agencies]