As the public grows outraged at Sesame Place, the Sesame Street based theme park, after a video of one of their characters subbed two Black girls. Since then, the public has come forward with more evidence of employees being cruel to children at the park.
The initial clip that was shared depicted showed two little girls getting snubbed by the character Rosita. The video went viral, with celebrities sharing the clip.
It may have been a mistake, but that didn’t stop people from finding more examples.
Including one where a character knocks over a small Black girl.
\u201cAlright several people need to answer for this racist behavior towards Black children at @SesamePlace. WTF is this. I'm so pissed\u201d— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1658185457
In the video above, a purple character aggressively approaches a child. As they get closer, they extend their arms and move into the child, knocking them over.
It goes very quick, but looks very intentional. Filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry shared the video to Twitter, where other people were shocked by what they saw.
The comments couldn’t believe it.
\u201c@MatthewACherry @SesamePlace This is the third little Black girl I\u2019ve seen treated like shit by one of these racist assholes IN 2 DAYS\u201d— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1658185457
\u201cSesame place is in a racist area like the local high schools mascot should tell you that\u201d— \ud83d\udc1d (@\ud83d\udc1d) 1658267453
\u201c@TheSwampWytch @MatthewACherry @SesamePlace Oh they were aware. This is response part 2. If you go to IG you can see their initial response where they denied the incident took place.\u201d— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1658185457
\u201cI\u2019m gonna visit Sesame Place and square up with all these messy musty muppets \ud83d\ude24\n\n#SesamePlace #SesameStreet #SquareUp\u201d— Drag Doll \ud83d\udc51 (@Drag Doll \ud83d\udc51) 1658269216
\u201c@RdotSpoon @MatthewACherry @SesamePlace I worked there years ago and you would be amazed at the ineptitude.Also as an autism accredited park, you can\u2019t see or predict who will have sensory issues and who won\u2019t and that little girl was CLEARLY upset, that performer should have backed off.This stuff all comes from the \ud83d\udd1d\u201d— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1658185457
\u201c@LittleMissFlint @MatthewACherry @SesamePlace Their official statement was that the character actor was saying no to someone in the crowd asking them to hold a child for picture, not refusing the Black kids.\u201d— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1658185457
Sesame place had apologized for the original incident with Rosita, and explained that performers sometimes have problems seeing out of the costumes. However, with the new video, it’s difficult to see that as an explanation.
The purple character comes charging right out, and aggressively moves into the child’s space. There has been no explanation given at this time for the character’s actions.
However Sesame Place might be a little busy with the other videos coming out. The above video wasn’t the only one that people started sharing.
Entire threads of new videos showing characters at Sesame Place snubbing Black children were shared.
\u201c@_TheShawn Sesame St is a sundown town lol\u201d— My Hair Longer Than Yours... (@My Hair Longer Than Yours...) 1658159091
\u201c@_TheShawn This broke my heart into pieces\u201d— My Hair Longer Than Yours... (@My Hair Longer Than Yours...) 1658159091
\u201c@_TheShawn this is TERRIBLE. my heart broke \ud83d\udc94\u201d— My Hair Longer Than Yours... (@My Hair Longer Than Yours...) 1658159091
\u201c@_TheShawn @TakiaBrown that little girl just waving :( i wanna give her a hug. she just wanted to see her fave characters\u201d— My Hair Longer Than Yours... (@My Hair Longer Than Yours...) 1658159091
\u201c@Bomani_Granger @_TheShawn SCREAMING\u201d— My Hair Longer Than Yours... (@My Hair Longer Than Yours...) 1658159091
The apology from Sesame Place was not accepted by the family of the two Black girls snubbed by Rosita. They don’t want to sue the company, and say this isn’t about money, but they want to see real change.
They don’t believe the excuse that the performer couldn’t see, and claim to have more video evidence. To that end, they want a genuine apology for what they say truly happened.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram