Sesame Street Doesn't Care About Black People.

If I was Kanye West, maybe this would've been my response to the videos I've seen.

But since I'm not Yeezy, and I have a more nuanced view of the world, I'll try to approach this topic with some complexity (while also keeping it brief, lol).

I grew up on Sesame Street. It was a formative part of my childhood and before yesterday, I would have never spoken a bad word about the show, the characters, or the brand.

But Sesame Street has a problem on its hands. It is 100% obvious that the people playing its characters are in need of an ass whooping. Point blank.

Originally, a  single video was circulating on the “internets” which showed a Sesame Street character named Rosita “waving” off 2 Black children and not giving them a hug. Sesame Street (Place) subsequently released a statement supporting the actor playing Rosita and saying it was a misunderstanding and that the actor was heartbroken about what happened.

It was at this point that I softened my stance and considered that, maybe, it was an honest mistake and that there was no discrimination at play here.

That was until I saw the post from @kevonstage which showed multiple incidents where excited Black babies were “skuuurted” on by the characters at the Sesame Place amusement park(s).

The Point:

This made me very angry, to say the least. One of the reasons I think racism is the "mother" of all "isms" is because there is no escaping it (if that was something one wanted to do).

Black bodies are BLACK. They're Black at night, they're Black during the day, from across the street, while riding by in a car, while learning, while eating, while simply BEING. The list goes on.

It is this INSTANT labeling that opens us up to judgement, stereotyping, and eventually assault- both physically and psychologically by those who seek to harm and demean us.

This is exactly what happened here. These children's BEUTY was weaponized against them to diminish and humiliate them and it cannot be dismissed.

What are your thoughts?

Check out the video below and leave your thoughts in the comments.

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A post shared by kevonstage (@kevonstage)

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