A Sesame Street theme park has apologized and promised more training for its employees after a video showing a costumed character waving at two six-year-old black girls during a parade went viral online.
The nine-second video, posted to Instagram on Saturday by Jodi Brown, the mother of one of the girls, shows the character Rosita high-fiving a white child and woman, then gesturing “no” and walking away from the two girls, who had their arms extended for a hug and high five during the Sesame Place parade in Philadelphia.
“I will never set foot in @sesameplace again,” Brown said online.
The family’s attorney, B’Ivory LaMarr, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the family is horrified and distraught by the incident and “the injuries caused to their children.”
In an initial statement Sunday, Sesame Place said the park and its employees support “inclusion and equality in all forms.” The statement also noted that performers sometimes miss requests for hugs because the costumes they wear make it difficult to see lower levels.
“Rosita’s performer did not intentionally neglect the girls and is devastated by the misunderstanding,” the statement said.
Calls for a boycott
However, many people expressed outrage online and some called for a boycott of the theme park.
The park issued a second statement on Monday, again apologizing and promising it was “taking action to improve.” Among those efforts will be employee onboarding training.
Both the statement and the video sparked a backlash on social media, which LaMarr said helped shine a light on “the existence of these issues.”
“A lot of African-Americans tend to become very passive because unfortunately we’re used to dealing with this type of racism in different spaces,” he said.
Located in Langhorne, a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Sesame Place has been the official Sesame Street theme park for more than four decades. It opened its doors in 1980.
“You would expect a reputable organization that is as revered as Sesame Street and Sesame Place to stand by these principles and values that they represent,” LaMar said. “Instead, what this family saw was a company that came out and they’re very oblivious to the damage that’s been done.”
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