This past weekend, the beloved children's park Sesame Place in Philadelphia came under fire for racism after evidence surfaced of a character blatantly ignoring two Black children during a parade in the park. Sesame Place is a themed amusement and water park that brings to life the characters and environment of educational children's show Sesame Street.
In video footage captured by a Black mother identified as Jodi on social media, one of the popular sesame street characters Rosita is seen refusing to high five two young Black girls by waving them away. After doing so, the character intentionally interacted with other non-Black girls next to them. The costumed individual can be audibly heard saying "no" as the children try to get share a moment with the character.
In the caption of an Instagram post, the mother stated, "I’m going to keep posting this, because this had me hot. We were on our way out of Sesame Place and the kids wanted to stop to see the characters. This disgusting person blatantly told our kids no then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us." She continued, "Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I’m crazy. I asked the lady who the character was and I wanted to see a supervisor and she told me she didn't know!"
Many across social media have shared similar sentiments of disgust regarding the actions that took place at Sesame Place. The park issued an official statement regarding the incident as well.
“Our brand, our park and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms,” the statement read. “Regarding the incident yesterday, the costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests."
