The family of the little Black girls who were waved off by a Sesame Place worker is calling for the company to take action against their employee, ABC News reports.
After sharing a video to Twitter where the costumed Rosita character from the Sesame Street franchise is seen completely ignoring two little Black girls, the family wants an “authentic apology.” They also ask that the work be terminated.
“We want a genuine and authentic apology,” said the family’s attorney, B’Ivory LaMarr, in a press conference Wednesday (July 20). “The second thing that we’re requesting is for the immediate termination of that performer. The third thing that we’re going to request is — we’re going to demand that they take care of any type of health care or mental care expenses that these children have realized.”
In the video, the little girls are seen waving excitedly while awaiting a greeting from the costumed character. Instead, Rosita can be seen handing out high-fives to several other attendees before seemingly shaking her head and waving off the children.
Ultimately, she completely walks away from them without the same treatment as the others seen in the clip.
As previously reported by REVOLT, a woman who is said to be the aunt of one of the little girls, who just so happened to be celebrating a birthday, called out the organization for the character’s actions.
#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,” said Leslie Mac in a tweet.
The company has since issued an apology and detailed plans for a company-wide training on bias following the incident, but the girls’ mother says the apology is full of lies.
Check out the initial response from Sesame Place below.