Sesame Place racism scandal (2 Viewers)

[KingPrawn]

Sesame Place racism scandal

Sesame Place Philadelphia is being accused of racism in an incident that occurred recently. It's a very short clip so I'd like to see a little more context. But from the brief clip it doesn't look good.

Have they forgotten their origins?

What's next? Bert in a white sheet?

 

[AAABatteries]

Sesame Place racism scandal

Sesame Place Philadelphia is being accused of racism in an incident that occurred recently. It's a very short clip so I'd like to see a little more context. But from the brief clip it doesn't look good.

Have they forgotten their origins?

What's next? Bert in a white sheet?

I can somewhat speak to this and feel pretty confident in my answer.  We attended countless of these parades at Disney over the years and that is exactly how the people in constume behave.  Namely, it's haphazard, they move back and forth quickly and will seemingly skip over people randomly.  I've had it happen to my kids.  Also, my understanding is it's hard to see in those costumes sometimes.  Could it be a racist in costume, anything is possible I guess. 

In order of likelihood its:  1. a cast member just doing what they always do and those kids got skipped.  2. Racist cast member.  .....99. Racist policy.

To me there's no controversy here unless the cast member has shown a pattern.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Impossible to suggest anything from that clip. She was telling someone else no before she even turned to the girls and obviously told them no as well. 

 

[Juxtatarot]

A man at the end of the video can be heard saying “gotta step back”. Perhaps they were too far into the street?

 

[AAABatteries]

A man at the end of the video can be heard saying “gotta step back”. Perhaps they were too far into the street?

This is a good point too - most of those parades have a line of tape that you aren't supposed to cross and most of the characters have handlers that are there to keep folks back.  For the safety of the patrons and the cast members.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

The mascots don't interact with every single person.  There's an extremely high likelihood that this is nothing.  

That said, people who are skeptical of the notion of "white privilege" should think about what happened here.  If I took my kids to a parade and they got skipped over by one of the characters, I wouldn't give it a second thought.  Like, literally I would not devote a single calorie to processing this event any further in my mind.  It would just be completely unremarkable.  Black people, on the other hand, do have a legitimate reason to wonder when this sort of stuff happens to them.  We (white people) know that this is normal, but how can they know that?  The result of all of this is I leave the parade feeling like my family and I had a good time, while the black family leaves the same parade having had the same experience but feeling hard done by.  That has to add up after a while.

 

[Sand]

When your mind is made up that ghosts are real you see ghosts everywhere.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

What's next? Bert in a white sheet?

Of course.

 

[The General]

Really dumb. Karen’s know no color.

 

[Godsbrother]

This is a good point too - most of those parades have a line of tape that you aren't supposed to cross and most of the characters have handlers that are there to keep folks back.  For the safety of the patrons and the cast members.  

Agreed.

 

[Snoopy]

Brought to you by the letters K, K and K?

 

[tommyGunZ]

When your mind is made up that ghosts are real you see ghosts everywhere.

Really Sand? You're equating racism to ghosts?  

 

 

[Osaurus]

Langhorne, amirite?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Really Sand? You're equating racism to ghosts?  

 

I see we've moved on from "I don't know how analogies work" to "I don't know how figures of speech work."

 

[JIslander]

Seems its all of what AAA, IK and Juxtarot noted --

 

[Sand]

Really Sand? You're equating racism to ghosts?  

Just to be crystal clear, let me spell it out for you.  When someone has made up their mind that something exists and is everywhere they will see it everywhere reflexively. 

Like you just did.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Really Sand? You're equating racism to ghosts?  

 

I see we've moved on from "I don't know how analogies work" to "I don't know how figures of speech work."

Who was it that said it wasn't intentional again? 

 

[tymarsas]

Who was it that said it wasn't intentional again? 

I think you are probably talking about me. Hard to tell though. Do you think passive aggressive posting like this is better than what TGunz did? If you disagree with his post or mine then feel free to reply and explain why.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Just to be crystal clear, let me spell it out for you.  When someone has made up their mind that something exists and is everywhere they will see it everywhere reflexively. 

Like you just did.

That’s different than what you first posted; this version contains and additiona “and is everywhere” that wasn’t present in your first post.  

Secondly, using ghosts as an analogy for racism is a poor, poor choice.  

 

[tommyGunZ]

I see we've moved on from "I don't know how analogies work" to "I don't know how figures of speech work."

White conservatives using ghosts in analogies with racism. What could go wrong? 

 

[IvanKaramazov]

That’s different than what you first posted; this version contains and additiona “and is everywhere” that wasn’t present in your first post.  

Secondly, using ghosts as an analogy for racism is a poor, poor choice.  

"Seeing ghosts" isn't an analogy.  It's a figure of speech, meaning "seeing something that exists only in your imagination."  I don't think racism in 2022 America is imaginary, but I do think that the person whose kids were featured in the OP is probably seeing something that isn't there.  It's a reasonable take.

What you're doing right now is essentially like if someone reacted to the OP by saying "We've all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" and you reacted by explaining how actually racism isn't like a nail at all, because nails are made of steel while racism is a socially constructed concept, and you can't build a house out of racism, and so on.  It just totally misses the point in a strange way that leads readers to wonder if you get how English works.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Does anybody get the feeling that we're about to be treated to a lecture about how Actually Ghosts Are Racist?  

That's a new one, at least for me.

 

[KingPrawn]

Does anybody get the feeling that we're about to be treated to a lecture about how Actually Ghosts Are Racist?  

That's a new one, at least for me.

Have you ever seen anyone dress up as a ghost for Halloween wear a black sheet?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Have you ever seen anyone dress up as a ghost for Halloween wear a black sheet?

Could you please state your argument using some declarative sentences?

(Maybe you're making a joke -- it's hard to tell these days.  Never mind if that's the case and I just missed it.)

 

[AAABatteries]

Does anybody get the feeling that we're about to be treated to a lecture about how Actually Ghosts Are Racist?  

That's a new one, at least for me.

Ghosts aren’t racist but they are humanist.

 

[timschochet]

The mascots don't interact with every single person.  There's an extremely high likelihood that this is nothing.  

That said, people who are skeptical of the notion of "white privilege" should think about what happened here.  If I took my kids to a parade and they got skipped over by one of the characters, I wouldn't give it a second thought.  Like, literally I would not devote a single calorie to processing this event any further in my mind.  It would just be completely unremarkable.  Black people, on the other hand, do have a legitimate reason to wonder when this sort of stuff happens to them.  We (white people) know that this is normal, but how can they know that?  The result of all of this is I leave the parade feeling like my family and I had a good time, while the black family leaves the same parade having had the same experience but feeling hard done by.  That has to add up after a while.

I think this is a great point. I strongly doubt there was any racism at play here. But can we really blame a black mother for being suspicious of it and reacting in such a fashion? There is a reason that she felt the way she did. 

 

[HellToupee]

White conservatives using ghosts in analogies with racism. What could go wrong? 

I don’t get it, am I supposed to know this faux pas?

 

[parasaurolophus]

I think you are probably talking about me. Hard to tell though. Do you think passive aggressive posting like this is better than what TGunz did? If you disagree with his post or mine then feel free to reply and explain why.

Lol. Pretty sure most wouldn't describe me as passive aggressive. If I had remembered exactly who said it, I would not have hesitated to @ you. 

I remembered somebody saying it and thought it was absurd. This is an example of why I think that is absurd. 

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

What's next? Bert in a white sheet?

I don't think the Klan would approve of his, um, alternative lifestyle.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Have you ever seen anyone dress up as a ghost for Halloween wear a black sheet?

I don't remember the last time I saw anybody use a sheet for a ghost costume, but there are certainly a ton of black ghost costumes out there every year. That dumb scream character had staying power. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I don't think the Klan would approve of his, um, alternative lifestyle.

Bert would obviously have to keep Ernie in a closet.

 

[Sand]

That’s different than what you first posted; this version contains and additiona “and is everywhere” that wasn’t present in your first post.  

Secondly, using ghosts as an analogy for racism is a poor, poor choice.  

I'm not wordsmithing with you here.  You know what I'm getting at and are intentionally parsing words to paint me as your typical white, conservative who looks normal but actually has a whole closet full of Klan memorabilia and does Heil Hitlers on Fridays.  Give me a break.  The inference is asinine and insulting.

BTW, guys in white sheets aren't ghosts - they're guys in white sheets.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Live video of racisty racists who love racism.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

The mascots don't interact with every single person.  There's an extremely high likelihood that this is nothing.  

That said, people who are skeptical of the notion of "white privilege" should think about what happened here.  If I took my kids to a parade and they got skipped over by one of the characters, I wouldn't give it a second thought.  Like, literally I would not devote a single calorie to processing this event any further in my mind.  It would just be completely unremarkable.  Black people, on the other hand, do have a legitimate reason to wonder when this sort of stuff happens to them.  We (white people) know that this is normal, but how can they know that?  The result of all of this is I leave the parade feeling like my family and I had a good time, while the black family leaves the same parade having had the same experience but feeling hard done by.  That has to add up after a while.

All too often what's missing from these types of debates is a little empathy. This woman may be wrong. But that doesn't mean she's irrational, or crazy, or playing the race card. I mean, maybe she is all those things. I have no idea. But I always hate when people jump to those types of conclusions simply because they feel the need to discredit the allegation. (And that's not meant to be a subtweet of any of the posters here. I'm just saying I often see that in these types of discussions).

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

White conservatives using ghosts in analogies with racism. What could go wrong? 

Your go to move for 20 years now?  Try something else

 

[Sand]

All too often what's missing from these types of debates is a little empathy. This woman may be wrong. But that doesn't mean she's irrational, or crazy, or playing the race card. I mean, maybe she is all those things. I have no idea. But I always hate when people jump to those types of conclusions simply because they feel the need to discredit the allegation. (And that's not meant to be a subtweet of any of the posters here. I'm just saying I often see that in these types of discussions).

This is true.  What we do know is that she took offense to a slight that was real or imagined.  She then tried to get the employee's name and alerted the national media to what she saw as an overtly racist act.  We don't know what she would have done if she had been told who the employee is, but I imagine it would not have been a positive experience for them.

As far as the slight, on review Hanlon's Razor (or some variant thereof as its certainly possible that the employee acted within character norms and did nothing dumb) can reasonably applied and analyzed from that point of view. 

 

[AAABatteries]

All too often what's missing from these types of debates is a little empathy. This woman may be wrong. But that doesn't mean she's irrational, or crazy, or playing the race card. I mean, maybe she is all those things. I have no idea. But I always hate when people jump to those types of conclusions simply because they feel the need to discredit the allegation. (And that's not meant to be a subtweet of any of the posters here. I'm just saying I often see that in these types of discussions).

I'm not discounting what you are saying but the idea that Sesame Place is racist seems absurd to me.  If this was some small time operation then maybe I could see an issue.  Or, if it was just saying - hey, this employee at Sesame Place may be racist that's one thing.  I agree with what IK said about how different people perceive things, however.

 

[parasaurolophus]

I'm not discounting what you are saying but the idea that Sesame Place is racist seems absurd to me.  If this was some small time operation then maybe I could see an issue.  Or, if it was just saying - hey, this employee at Sesame Place may be racist that's one thing.  I agree with what IK said about how different people perceive things, however.

Sesame place philly no less 

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Sesame place philly no less 

Oh wait, this happened in Philly?  In that case, why not just put the mascot out there in an Aikman 8 jersey and let nature run its course?

 

[timschochet]

Oh wait, this happened in Philly?  In that case, why not just put the mascot out there in an Aikman 8 jersey and let nature run its course?

Or Santa Claus: 

https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/12/penn-football-franklin-field-eagles-santa

 

[The Z Machine]

Does anybody get the feeling that we're about to be treated to a lecture about how Actually Ghosts Are Racist?  

That's a new one, at least for me.

Then do astronomical terms and why they are racist.

 

[Sand]

White conservatives using ghosts in analogies with racism.

Bruce Willis and Patrick Swayze would like to have a word with you on this, BTW.

If those two aren't available then Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice...

 

[dickey moe]

Your go to move for 20 years now?  Try something else

Imagine the GUILT he lives with. 

 

[KingPrawn]

Could you please state your argument using some declarative sentences?

(Maybe you're making a joke -- it's hard to tell these days.  Never mind if that's the case and I just missed it.)

It was a joke. Only the PSF could argue whether ghosts are racist or not.

 

[jon_mx]

This is the state of racism in this country today.  Despite 330 million cameras in everyone's pocket, these are the type of incidents that cause outrage.  So much oppression.  

 

[TheMagus]

So I am from Philly, have a young child, and have been to Sesame Place multiple times. My first inclination on reading the headline was this was someone overreacting because the vast majority of people at Sesame Place on a given day are black, much like Philly is, so a racist cast member makes little sense. 

But after watching the video, I have to admit it was weird and even if one of the girls was "over the line" in the parade it's still a little kid which I'm sure happens all the time. The character literally waved the girls away. Just weird and sad for the kids.

 

[parasaurolophus]

So I am from Philly, have a young child, and have been to Sesame Place multiple times. My first inclination on reading the headline was this was someone overreacting because the vast majority of people at Sesame Place on a given day are black, much like Philly is, so a racist cast member makes little sense. 

But after watching the video, I have to admit it was weird and even if one of the girls was "over the line" in the parade it's still a little kid which I'm sure happens all the time. The character literally waved the girls away. Just weird and sad for the kids.

People are saying the character was waving at people behind the kids trying to get the character to hold a baby. 

 

[The General]

This video is akin to the ones where people think Biden is shaking hands with air.

It’s a joke. 

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

This video is akin to the ones where people think Biden is shaking hands with air.

There's at least a half dozen threads to discuss Bidens dementia.  We're trying to solve racists muppets here.

On second thought, your post fits right in.

 

[The General]

There's at least a half dozen threads to discuss Bidens dementia.  We're trying to solve racists muppets here.

On second thought, your post fits right in.

It would be a racist costume actor, muppets aren't real.