The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) requested a meeting with the president of Sesame Place Saturday after a video went viral showing a “Sesame Street” character seemingly ignoring two black girls during a parade at the park.
The CBC said in a statement Saturday that it was requesting a meeting with Sesame Place president and general manager Cathy Valeriano. The CBC claimed that the video is one of multiple examples of racism displayed at the park in recent days. The meeting would be to discuss changes to the park, including plans of action and training.
“Congressional Black Caucus ‘is requesting an audience with Sesame Place Park President & General Manager Cathy Valeriano to discuss the changes, plans of action, and training the park plans to implement,’” Fox News Congressional reporter Chad Pergram tweeted Saturday, quoting from the statement. “CBC says ‘Over the past week, we’ve seen multiple glaring examples of racism coming from the park, including the viral video in which two beautiful little Black girls were blatantly rejected by a character they idolized while white children were embraced,’” Pergram quoted in another tweet.
Elsewhere in the release, the CBC condemned the park for allegedly not welcoming visitors of all colors, despite the universal appeal of its namesake children’s program. “Sesame Street is one of the nation’s highest-rated TV shows that, at one time, more than 95 percent of all American Preschoolers watched,” the caucus said in the release, via The Hill. “So, naturally, Sesame Place should be where all children can go to have fun and celebrate. Sadly, that has not been the case.”
The CBC added that Sesame Street plays an “integral” role for the children its members represent in their districts, some 80 million Americans, and particularly the 17 million black Americans those members represent. “The show reaches young children in all demographics, with a particular impact on economically disadvantaged children, and families of color should know they will be welcomed at any institution that carries the Sesame Street name,” the CBC wrote in its statement.
A video of the incident went viral on social media earlier this week. In the video, the character Rosita is walking in a characters’ parade, waving and high-fiving children in the audience. In the clip, the two girls reach out to Rosita, but the character wags her finger at someone in the audience, then appears to shake her head and wave off the girls before continuing on the path.
Sesame Place issued an apology on their Instagram page Monday, saying that the performer playing Rosita was not directing action at any one person in particular, but was instead turning down repeated requests by a member of the crowd to hold their child for a photo, which is not allowed by the park. “The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding,” the statement said.
The park issued a second apology later on Monday. “We sincerely apologize to the family for their experience in our park on Saturday; we know that it’s not ok. We are taking actions to do better. We are committed to making this right. We will conduct training for our employees so they better understand, recognize and deliver an inclusive, equitable, and entertaining experience for our guests,” the second apology read.
The Congressional Black Caucus acknowledged the apology in its statement, but said that it was requesting a meeting anyway, given the “gravity of the situation and lack of responsibility at all levels.”