BLACK TWITTER REACTS AFTER SESAME PLACE EMPLOYEE IGNORES BLACK CHILDREN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS
Sesame Place is trending on Twitter after an outraged Black mother took to social media to blast the Philadelphia location on Sunday
The video originated on Instagram and was posted by user @__jodiii__. She wrote that she took her daughters to Sesame Place — a theme park based on the characters from Sesame Street — in Philadelphia. They stopped to watch a parade on the way out of the park.
She wrote, “I’m going to keep posting this, because this had me hot. We 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!” The riled mother said she unsuccessfully attempted to file a complaint with management. Jodi’s post continued, “They looking at me like I’m crazy. I asked the lady who the character was and I wanted to see a supervisor and she told me SHE DIDNT KNOW!! I will never step foot in @sesameplace ever again! And please feel free to repost this. Actually run me my money back so mad I stopped the video but it got me so mad when he blatantly told them no.”
The footage also went viral on Twitter, where one video of the encounter has been viewed more than 4.4 million times.
#BabyPaige & her cute lil friends went to @SesamePlace this weekend to celebrate Paige's 4th birthday & this is how #SesamePlace treated these beautiful Black children. I'm HOT. pic.twitter.com/wATjpRzUF1
— Confident and she lethal (@LeslieMac) July 17, 2022
Twitter users rushed to respond to the point even more users came forward about their discrimination experience at sesame world.
It's upsetting because no matter what damage control is attempted by Sesame Place, nothing can undo how these babies were made to feel in this moment. The looks on their faces are so heartbreaking. https://t.co/orkTmnwbaF
— krh (@kyiarenee) July 17, 2022
These videos just breaks my heart 😟🥺
To see these kids confused as to why Elmo or Rosita isn't nice to them, and to have a parent have to force Rosita to hug her child. Sesame Place appears to have a long history of racism, and now it's time to cancel their asses!#BlackTwitter pic.twitter.com/jZ7co4iDeb— 𝓒𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮 𝓕𝓲𝓸𝓼𝓪 🏴🇲🇽 (@DFiosa) July 20, 2022
As time went on and the situation went viral, more videos resurfaced of the way their Black children were treated at the park.
The overwhelming volume of videos showcasing @SesamePlace's intentional mistreatment of Black children is APPALLING! This Penn. theme park and its staff need to be investigated for their discriminatory actions!
🎥 Instagram: girltrek, snobtastic_, angelopintoesq pic.twitter.com/2auVAGLfrY— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 19, 2022
Sesame Place responded with a public statement that said the employee wearing the costume was not motioning “no” to Jodi’s children or anyone else watching the parade. They said the gesture was instead “a response to multiple requests from someone in the crowd who asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo which is not permitted.”
As consolation, Sesame Place has invited the family back to the park. “We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected,” said the statement
