Behind the scenes at Sesame Place, Elmo and Rosita get a lift to the nighttime parade on Aug.4, 2011, in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty
A jury has cleared a popular children’s amusement park in Pennsylvania of allegations of racial discrimination that stemmed from a viral video showing Black girls being snubbed by workers dressed as characters from the Sesame Street television show.
Sesame Place on Wednesday was found to be not liable despite apparent video evidence to the contrary of one of its employees dressed as a character from the iconic children’s show blowing off two little Black girls and leaving them disappointed in 2022.
NBC Philadelphia reported that “a jury unanimously voted ‘no’ to the questions asked of if Sesame Place, and its parent company SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, were liable.”
A Sesame Place rep said in a statement after the jury’s decision that “facts presented demonstrate that we treat our guests equally.”
But the optics not only from the 2022 video but also other videos that surfaced following the claims of racial discrimination suggest otherwise.
What happened?
In the short video clip on which the case centered, the Sesame Place employee — who’s dressed as Sesame Street character Rosita — can be seen high-fiving several people before approaching the two little Black girls, one of whom was celebrating her fourth birthday, with both seen going from exuding adorable excitement to bitter disappointment in a matter of seconds.
The girls’ mother, who goes by Jodi on Instagram, shared the post saying she and her daughters “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 wrote. “Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I’m crazy.”
Jodi said she asked other staff members about the identity of the employee and asked to speak to the manager, but she was told they didn’t know who was in the costume.
The video went viral, prompting Sesame Place to defend itself with what was criticized as excuses.
“The costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests,” the theme park said in a statement posted on its Instagram at the time. “The performer portraying the Rosita character has confirmed that the ‘no’ hand gesture seen several times in the video was not directed to any specific person, rather it was a response to multiple requests from someone in the crowd who asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo, which is not permitted.” Sesame Place added that “the Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding.”
After the above incident went viral, several other videos began surfacing that showed Rosita and a few more Sesame Street characters ignoring children of color.
As the backlash grew, Sesame Place released another statement apologizing to the family.
“We sincerely apologize to the family for their experience in our park on Saturday; we know that it’s not OK,” the company’s follow-up statement read. “We will conduct training for our employees, so they better understand, recognize and deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience to our guests.”
But by that point, one of the little Black girls who attempted to interact with Rosita at the Sesame Street-themed amusement park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has been traumatized by the incident. She began isolating herself with her grandmother and close family to stay away from the public eye and recover, the family’s lawyer said weeks after the experience.
The lawyer said the little girl was crying uncontrollably since her heartbreaking encounter with the Rosita performer. Following the incident, the child asked her mother why she was treated differently from the other children at the park after the character refused to interact with her, the lawyer said.
The family placed the little girl in therapy, the lawyer added.
Beyond this incident, Sesame Place has a history of being at the center of anti-Black activity.
A few years ago at another Pennsylvania Sesame Place, an angry white woman was filmed using profanity and making obscene gestures in front of children (some of whom can be heard crying) at the park. The Black woman who filmed the incident said she asked the white woman to stop cursing in front of the kids and the white woman responded by telling her to go back where she came from.
According to the Black woman, not only was the white woman not booted from the park for her behavior but she was also treated as the victim and given free passes to return to the park.
This is America.
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