Credit: __jodiii__/Instagram
A mother to young children has alleged a theme park employee rejected her two Black daughters during a parade at Sesame Place over the weekend.
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The Sesame Street character Rosita is seen high-fiving White parade goers in the video, which was uploaded to Instagram under the user name “Jodi,” before it appears the character is gesturing “no” to the woman’s Black daughters.
“THIS DISGUSTING person blatantly told our kids NO then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us! Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I’m crazy,” the Instagram caption read.
The theme park claimed in its own Instagram post that the character was responding to repeated requests from the crowd to carry their child for a photo, not ignoring the girls. That is against company policy, according to Sesame Place, which is owned by Sea World.
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“The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding,” the post stated. “Our brand, our park and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms. That is what Sesame Place is all about and we do not tolerate any behaviors in our parks that are contrary to that commitment.”
The post from the theme park said the performer is “devastated” about the incident.
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Additionally, Sesame Place claimed the costumes worn by characters make it difficult to see at lower levels. Even though the park has now extended an invitation to the family to return for a meet-and-greet, Jodi vows to “never step foot in Sesame Place ever again.”
The statement from Sesame Place was met with tepid reaction on Instagram, with some people commenting that it wasn’t sincere.
The video was posted Sunday and quickly went viral on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
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Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland resorted to her own Instagram to demand an explanation in response to the viral video’s outcry. If Rowland had been in the mother’s shoes, “the whole parade would have been in flames,” she said in an Instagram story.
Sesame Place has been in operation for nearly 42 years in Middletown Township and has grown to be one of the most popular theme parks in the region.
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