Parents file $25 million racial discrimination lawsuit against Sesame Street theme park after four characters ‘ignored their daughter during parade because she’s black’ #parade #shes #black Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
An American family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over racial discrimination claims after multiple costumed characters allegedly ignored their five-year-old daughter at a meet-and-greet event for being “black.”
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of Sesame Place, for “comprehensive and abhorrent racial discrimination.”
The lawsuit, seeking class action status, alleges that four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other black guests at the June 18 meet-and-greet.
“Looking at her face makes me cry every time I see it,” Quinton Burns said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The lawsuit comes after a viral video shows two other black girls from New York being snubbed by Rosita during a parade in the park in Langhorne, outside of Philadelphia, last month.
Sesame Place apologized in a statement for that incident, explaining that the actor in the Rosita suit simply couldn’t see their daughter because of the costume’s limited field of view.
The furore caused more families to come forward with similar experiences.
The lawsuit states that “SeaWorld’s artists easily came into contact with numerous white clients in the same situation.”
At a news conference held Wednesday, one of the family’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and the company to compensate the Burns family.
“She was ignored among a sea of other young white kids who were able to get along, give hugs, give high fives,” Ruff said.
“Kennedi was forced to deal with racism at the age of 5. This is unacceptable and we will not stand by and let this continue,” Ruff said.
Sesame Place responded to the lawsuit in a statement to Eyewitness News, saying, “We will review the lawsuit filed on behalf of Mr Burns. We look forward to addressing that claim through the established legal process. We are committed to providing an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all of our guests.”
The suit has been filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus reportedly requested a meeting with the leadership at a Sesame Street theme park after a video showing a costumed character waving goodbye to two six-year-old black girls at a parade went viral.
Jodi Brown, the mother of one of the girls, first shared the nine-second music video last weekend in which the Sesame Place character Rosita high-fives a white child and a white woman, then gestures “no” and walks away from the two black girls who reached out for hugs.
Black Caucus members want to meet with Cathy Valeriano, the theme park’s general manager, to “discuss the changes, action plans and training of the park plans,” Fox News reporter Chad Pergram said Saturday.
The caucus said: “Over the past week, we’ve seen several high-profile examples of racism from the park, including the viral video in which two beautiful little black girls were shamelessly rejected by a character they idolized while hugging white children.”
?? Rosita, the doll character who walks through the Sesame Street theme park in Philadelphia (USA), ignored the two black children and did not shake their hands. pic.twitter.com/vgnynYBvCb
— Chronicles of Shame (@ShameChronicles) July 25, 2022
Brown has claimed that Rosita immediately hugged a white child after beating her daughter and niece, although those events are not shown in the video.
On Saturday, Brown appeared on MSNBC and said she rejected the apologies issued by Sesame Place, the theme park outside of Philadelphia.
“I don’t believe it was real, I believe they were just making statements because of the viral spread of the video,” Brown said.
Brown’s attorney B’Ivory Lamarr appeared next to the mother and repeated his threat to sue the theme park and demand that the unidentified employee in the Rosita costume be fired.
In a statement on Sunday, theme park officials called the now viral moment a “misunderstanding,” saying the mascot probably didn’t see the girls because of the limited view in the costume’s clunky mask.
“Our brand, park and employees stand for inclusiveness and equality in all forms,” the statement reads. “That’s what Sesame Place is all about and we won’t tolerate behavior in our parks that violates that obligation.”
“We are also, and have always been, committed to ensuring that every family and child has the best possible experience at our parks and we are incredibly disappointed when that doesn’t happen.”
“We spoke to the family, apologized and invited them to a special meet-and-greet with our characters,” the statement said.
The park said the actor who plays Rosita – who is not mentioned by name – “wasn’t intentionally ignoring the girls and is devastated by the misunderstanding.”
The statement claimed Rosita gestured “no” to another guest who had asked to hold their child for a photo, “which is not allowed.”
The park also said the mascot probably didn’t see the girls because of the limited visibility in the costume’s impractical mask, which “Sometimes makes it hard to see lower-level” protagonists to “miss guest cuddle requests” every now and then.
“We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected and we commit ourselves to doing our best to deserve the visit and support of their and all guests,” the statement concluded.