Why this dad is fighting controversial Santa Claus job description
An Adelaide father is pushing to challenge the stereotype of a Caucasian Santa Claus in the hope of creating some of his own Christmas magic.
Arthur Butler applied for an online ad for people to act as Father Christmas, even though he didn’t fit the advertised requirements.
The ad, posted to job search websites Indeed and Seek, advertised for “Caucasian mature age men” to play the role.
“Well, when I first saw the ad, I was a little bit shocked when it said Caucasian people,” Mr Butler said.
“And then I thought, I should give it a go, just to see what they say.”
Mr Butler says that he submitted his resume and then called up later.
“The next day is when I actually called them to chase it up, and I then had mentioned to them, ‘look, I am an Indigenous person and I just want to see if I can get given a go’,” he said.
Mr Butler thinks he fits the bill to play the man in red.
He’s hoping an online campaign will change how we think about the role and will better showcase Australia’s cultural diversity to youngsters.
“It will just give them a bit of hope and say that yes there is a bit of diversity out there and that would be awesome to see an Indigenous Santa and make them feel a lot happier, I reckon.
In a statement to Yahoo7, a spokesperson for Essential Talent, the agency that placed the advertisement, said that the original Seek ad had been changed for Indeed, with someone adding the word “Caucasian” to the job criteria.
Indeed responded by saying jobs on the site “must be made available to qualified candidates regardless of age, race, gender and sexual orientation”.
“We believe strongly in protecting the trust of jobseekers, and we will endeavour to act swiftly and decisively to remove jobs posted on Indeed that do not comply,” they said in a statement to Yahoo7.
