Current Events > Sesame Street theme park apologizes after Black girls shunned by character

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/20/sesame-street-theme-park-character-rosita-parade

I question the wisdom of apologizing for something you were falsely accused of. Im sure they contracted a PR firm that recommended the apology, but I think apologies will just make people more angry in this day and age.

radical_rhino posted...

falsely accused of

I mean, the video is pretty damning. I said in a different topic that the ONLY thing I can thing of was that the mascot thought the kids wanted to be hugged or picked up, which I would assume the mascots are not even remotely allowed to do.

Calling it "falsely accused" so clearly seems like you might know more though, so can you elaborate on why you seem to think it's a false accusation? I haven't been following any of this, I just saw the ten second clip.

I don't know if it was the same person in the suit but it was looking to be a bit of a trend with that character.

TaylorHeinicke posted...

I mean, the video is pretty damning. I said in a different topic that the ONLY thing I can thing of was that the mascot thought the kids wanted to be hugged or picked up, which I would assume the mascots are not even remotely allowed to do.

I don't know if we saw the same video but the character hugged a white kid and appeared to actively avoid contact with the black kid right next to them.

EDIT: I just noticed you mentioned a 10 second video, here's a longer one, the incident I mentioned happens at around 40 seconds:

https://twitter.com/KevOnStage/status/1549402246005276673

TaylorHeinicke posted...

I mean, the video is pretty damning. I said in a different topic that the ONLY thing I can thing of was that the mascot thought the kids wanted to be hugged or picked up, which I would assume the mascots are not even remotely allowed to do.

Calling it "falsely accused" so clearly seems like you might know more though, so can you elaborate on why you seem to think it's a false accusation? I haven't been following any of this, I just saw the ten second clip.

Problem is that the video (at least one of them) shows that the inside of those suits make it difficult to see lower then the head and we dont see the mascots point of view.

The actor waved the kids off. The person in the suit definitely saw them.

__aCEr__ posted...

The actor waved the kids off. The person in the suit definitely saw them.

Not a lot of proof though since again you are seeing it from the side and not facing the crowd.

People whove actually experienced racism have gotta be pissed that this is what people are mad about

Baha05 posted...

Not a lot of proof though since again you are seeing it from the side and not facing the crowd.

Not a lot of proof? Bro, the actor tilts the head down (they see through the mouth of the suit) shakes their head, wags their hand right at the children and walks away.

Youd think if you were afraid of cooties you wouldnt have gone into the mascot profession.

Baha05 posted...

Not a lot of proof though since again you are seeing it from the side and not facing the crowd.

The proof is our eyes, dude, the actor looks right at them.

__aCEr__ posted...

Not a lot of proof? Bro, the actor tilts to head down (they see through the mouth of the suit) shakes their head, wags their hand right at the children and walks away.

Yeah but again one video shows that those suits are still limited and again the biggest thing is we only see the perspective of the person shooting the video (The mother in this case).

What we dont see is whats going in behind them.

Man I can't wait for this Baha dude to get suspended next.

Baha05 posted...

Yeah but again one video shows that those suits are still limited and again the biggest thing is we only see the perspective of the person shooting the video (The mother in this case).

What we dont see is whats going in behind them.

Nah, they're not that limited if they can see well enough to hug a white kid that's 2 feet tall but ignore the taller black kid next to them.

A_Good_Boy posted...

Man I can't wait for this Baha dude to get suspended next.

Because I dare question something? Lets be real here, this way Im not going to sit there and shrug off the possibility that yeah the kids got snubbed there. But if we are just going off one video from from one persons perspective that it more limited focused off their kids then yeah we have some context missing from that view (as you are not seeing who is next to them or behind them)

And we dont have insight of the mascots perspective as one video shows that even with the mouth hole you can easily miss seeing someone smaller then you.

Baha05 posted...

Because I dare question something? Lets be real here, this way Im not going to sit there and shrug off the possibility that yeah the kids got snubbed there. But if we are just going off one video from from one persons perspective that it more limited focused off their kids then yeah we have some context missing from that view (as you are not seeing who is next to them or behind them)

And we dont have insight of the mascots perspective as one video shows that even with the mouth hole you can easily miss seeing someone smaller then you.

Could you do me a favor and watch the longer video in my first post? Then let me know what you think.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


there's an even longer video wiht like 20+ clips put together.

GATTJT posted...

I don't know if we saw the same video but the character hugged a white kid and appeared to actively avoid contact with the black kid right next to them.

EDIT: I just noticed you mentioned a 10 second video, here's a longer one, the incident I mentioned happens at around 40 seconds:

https://twitter.com/KevOnStage/status/1549402246005276673

Dang dude, those character actors are racist af. How you gonna be working for Sesame Street and choose to be racist against the demographic the show was even made for?

GATTJT posted...

Could you do me a favor and watch the longer video in my first post? Then let me know what you think.

Longer video just shows the other case of something like that happening? I chalk it up to a partial coincidence, but something that makes me question if it was an act of racism why didnt they step forward too?

Wait no more to it, Id chalk it up to goofy rules for the character actors and obviously the tiktok video doing what the internet does and exaggerates on some things

Jesus Christ, dude.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I mean for that character I would beed to see more proof of it, two cases if it doesnt really being proof when you consider how many people are there and not knowing if the person is the same or not in costume. The other characters I would question like that purple fucker knocking the child over I would question that being less racist and more of over acting, Burt I doubt was slapping someone.

Racist employees are no joke. The costumed clown should be fired. I'm sure they have been. If I had my way, their identity would be made known to the public.

But this line still made me laugh:
I will never step foot in Sesame Place ever again, Brown said online.

FortuneCookie posted...

Racist employees are no joke. The costumed clown should be fired. I'm sure they have been. If I had my way, their identity would be made known to the public.

But this line still made me laugh:
I will never step foot in Sesame Place ever again, Brown said online.

Its not a joke for sure that kind of shit isnt needed. However one has to prove that such a case is a matter of racism versus just a thing that happened.

I think the video GATTJT posted pretty definitively shows employees dodging Black children.

It's sad to see that coming from multiple employees. Like, shit. Have the proud boys infiltrated Sesame Street? Are these clowns people who got fired from other jobs for being racist? "No, I'm serious - put on the costume. No one else is hiring you now. It's this or you begging on a street corner."

FortuneCookie posted...

I think the video GATTJT posted pretty definitively shows employees dodging Black children.

It's sad to see that coming from multiple employees. Like, shit. Have the proud boys infiltrated Sesame Street? Are these clowns people who got fired from other jobs for being racist? "No, I'm serious - put on the costume. No one else is hiring you now. It's this or you begging on a street corner."

Thatd be a twist

Yikes.

The evidence is there and it's pretty clear these mascots just don't like black kids. Firing them should be the next step that's really inexcusable.

Didn't an older video surface recently that showed one of the costumed characters from Country Bear Jamboree at Disney dangling a little kid upside down and shoving their head inside his costume pants? The fuck is wrong with some of the people they stick in those costumes? Is the heat frying their brains?

Heartomaton posted...

Didn't an older video surface recently that showed one of the costumed characters from Country Bear Jamboree at Disney dangling a little kid upside down and shoving their head inside his costume pants? The fuck is wrong with some of the people they stick in those costumes? Is the heat frying their brains?

Wat?

Heartomaton posted...

Didn't an older video surface recently that showed one of the costumed characters from Country Bear Jamboree at Disney dangling a little kid upside down and shoving their head inside his costume pants? The fuck is wrong with some of the people they stick in those costumes? Is the heat frying their brains?

Well it certainly didnt surface here.

GATTJT posted...

https://twitter.com/KevOnStage/status/1549402246005276673

Alright so in the first sesame street response, they claim someone behind the black kids asked to hold their child. That appears to be what the mascot was saying no to. Combining that with the visibility from the mascot and what appeared to be a continued hand wave, that's at least somewhat of an explanation. Doesn't make it true, doesn't make the employee not racist, but it's at least an explanation.

Of course, the rest of the clips together paint a pretty bad picture. I dunno how they haven't come out with a bigger answer at this point. The rest of their statements aside from the first one (which actually provided specifics) were just typical non-answers.

I can't verify anything, but here's an article on it.

https://insidethemagic.net/2022/07/country-bear-holds-child-upside-down-kc1/

Anyone seeing that many clips and ignoring what everyone else very obviously sees is a problem. Stop making excuses for blatantly racist behavior.

I mean goddamn

meestermj posted...

Anyone seeing that many clips and ignoring what everyone else very obviously sees is a problem. Stop making excuses for blatantly racist behavior.

Likewise seeing what you want to believe is blatantly racist is also a problem because if thats your go to reasoning without more proof is just as much a problem based on assumptions.

Wow. Baha really trying to defend this.

Keep the excuses coming.......

Bishop9800 posted...

Wow. Baha really trying to defend this.

Keep the excuses coming.......

Im giving it the benefit of the doubt here. Unlike plenty of other cases of someone being blatantly racist having a handful if cases that may come off as racist to some doesnt make it a case of racism by default here. Hence why this kind of case can work both ways.

It can either be cases of racism and snubbing black children or it can be misunderstandings that people are assuming its racism but again is just misunderstood instances.

This is not ok, and yes they did see these children and passed by, these people need to be fired and replaced.

Baha05 posted...

Im giving it the benefit of the doubt here. Unlike plenty of other cases of someone being blatantly racist having a handful if cases that may come off as racist to some doesnt make it a case of racism by default here. Hence why this kind of case can work both ways.

It can either be cases of racism and snubbing black children or it can be misunderstandings that people are assuming its racism but again is just misunderstood instances.

Dude, the video shows the character doing it to other black kids. What are you not seeing?

Bishop9800 posted...

Dude, the video shows the character doing it to other black kids. What are you not seeing?

The people near by or behind the camera? Or a lot more cases of this being the case? Because lets be real for the main video in question how many black children do you think were at that place and got snubbed by the character performers? Does this also happen to anyone else in question?

See thats why the video is more of a problem in both cases because its ONE video of this being a thing from a costumed character. So something like this can be seen as personal but what we arent seeing is other interactions between guests period.

Baha05 posted...

The people near by or behind the camera? Or a lot more cases of this being the case? Because lets be real for the main video in question how many black children do you think were at that place and got snubbed by the character performers? Does this also happen to anyone else in question?

See thats why the video is more of a problem in both cases because its ONE video of this being a thing from a costumed character. So something like this can be seen as personal but what we arent seeing is other interactions between guests period.

aaaand the goalpost has been moved,,,,,,,,,

Baha05 posted...

The people near by or behind the camera? Or a lot more cases of this being the case? Because lets be real for the main video in question how many black children do you think were at that place and got snubbed by the character performers? Does this also happen to anyone else in question?

See thats why the video is more of a problem in both cases because its ONE video of this being a thing from a costumed character. So something like this can be seen as personal but what we arent seeing is other interactions between guests period.

Not sure where you only got one from. As much as I hate videos of a dude's face yelling at me, the video in post #5 has several more different cases. Did you watch that?

Anyone who thinks any of these videos are evidence of racism needs to improve their media literacy. At every Sesame Place parade, every day, hundreds of kids of different races get high-fived and hundreds of kids of different races get passed over for high-fives. The fact that someone posted a video on the internet of two black kids being passed over is proof of nothing.

radical_rhino posted...

Anyone who thinks any of these videos are evidence of racism needs to improve their media literacy. At every Sesame Place parade, every day, hundreds of kids of different races get high-fived and hundreds of kids of different races get passed over for high-fives. The fact that someone posted a video on the internet of two black kids being passed over is proof of nothing.

https://www.fox29.com/news/sesame-place-facing-discrimination-complaints-after-more-videos-of-children-being-ignored-come-to-light

you were saying?

Bishop9800 posted...

aaaand the goalpost has been moved,,,,,,,,,

There was never a damn goalpost to begin with. This was a case of someone feeling they were snubbed due to racism. There is a legitimate difference between an act of racism being an act of racism versus someone interpreting/feeling like an act was done out of racism.

TaylorHeinicke posted...

Not sure where you only got one from. As much as I hate videos of a dude's face yelling at me, the video in post #5 has several more different cases. Did you watch that?

Yes I did watch it but again the point stands that this comes off more as feeling like racism happened versus knowing without a doubt that the performers are actually racist.