Racist messages found in letters to Santa left at Tennessee museum

Racist messages scrawled in letters to Santa have been found at a Tennessee museum

The messages were left in the form of letters at the Discovery Park of America in Union City. Some were removed by visitors.

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

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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."