A Baltimore family has filed a $25 million racial discrimination lawsuit against Sesame Place.
The Burns family visited the Langhorne, Pennsylvania, park on Father’s Day and say that their daughter, Kennedi, was devastated when she was repeatedly ignored by the characters.
After a New York mother’s video of Rosita waving off two little Black girls went viral, Quinton Burns decided to take action and contacted an attorney.
We previously reported after the woman, who describes herself as a “hurt mother,” blasted the park and shared a video of the incident, which has now gone viral, the park issued a horrible apology.
In the apology, the park claimed many of the characters have limited vision because of their suits and are sometimes unable to see the children.
After coming under fire again, they issued a second apology and promised to conduct employee training.
Activist Tamika D. Mallory took to social media to encourage people to sign a petition.
She wrote:
By now you should have watched the video from across the street that shows what the character at #SesamePlace did after it disrespected two 6-year-old Black babies. They went to a white family and hugged the child.
There’s not many people out there. It’s clear as day. You can even see @__jodiii__ (mom) watching the character with the white family. THIS AIN’T RIGHT!
See her original post below.
The Burns’ lawsuit alleges four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other Black guests during the meet-and-greet on June 18.
The lawsuit says “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers.”
“Kennedi was forced to experience racism at the age of five; this is unacceptable and we will not stand by and let this continue,” said attorney Malcolm Ruff at an afternoon news conference in Philadelphia.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Philadelphia and accuses Sesame Place of “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.”
In a statement, the park said:
We look forward to addressing that claim through the established legal process. We are committed to delivering an inclusive, equitable, and entertaining experience for all our guests.
Watch the news report below.
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Source: Associated Press
