Editorial
Sesame Place’s ‘unacceptable’ treatment of two Black children has gone viral.
Digital strategist Leslie Mac took to Twitter on July 17 and shared a video from her four-year-old daughter’s birthday celebrations at the Philadelphia-based theme park.
In the clip, a performer wearing the Rosita costume can be seen high-fiving visitors before waving off the child and her friend.
Watch the Sesame Place incident here…
Addressing this, Mac tweeted: “#BabyPaige and her cute lil friends went to @SesamePlace this weekend to celebrate Paige’s 4th birthday and this is how #SesamePlace treated these beautiful Black children. I’m HOT.”
Thousands have now taken to the comments and slammed the Sesame Place actor over the incident.
“Are you kidding me? That just broke my heart,” one commented.
Another added: “I’m mad for them sweeties. [They] didn’t deserve that.”
“WHATTTTTTT. Oh hell no. This is heartbreaking. Why are people so damn mean? @SesamePlace is this how you treat our babies?” a third penned. “I was planning on taking my children this year but not if they’ll be subjected to this type of treatment. Gross.”
Following the backlash, Sesame Workshop – which is the non-profit behind Sesame Street – has vowed to undergo bias training with theme park staff.
It also released a statement in which it said the incident was ‘unacceptable’.
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It read: “Sesame Workshop is aware of the recent incident at Sesame Place Philadelphia, which we take very seriously. What these children experienced is unacceptable.
“We have been in contact with Sesame Place, our licensed park partner, and they have assured us that they will conduct bias training and a thorough review of the ways in which they engage with families and guests.
“As a global non-profit educational organisation with a mission to help children grow smarter, stronger and kinder, Sesame Workshop has always stood for respect, inclusion and belonging and is committed to providing the highest quality engaging experiences for all children and families. We hold our partners to the same high standards.
“We will continue working with our long-term partner Sesame Place to ensure that appropriate actions are taken and that incidents like this do not happen in the future.”
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