Black Family Says No To Invite Back To Sesame Place

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A Black family that says they were discriminated against at Sesame Place in Bucks County has refused an invitation from the company for a return visit, according to lawyers for the family and media reports.

SeaWorld Entertainment, which owns Sesame Place, invited the family of local mother Jodi Brown to have a personal "meet and greet" with Sesame Street characters, but they said that they declined.

“The character was never the problem, but we believe the character of the company has always been the problem,” Brown's attorney B'Ivory LaMarr told the Bucks County Courier Times.

Brown posted a nine-second video back in July showing her two 6-year-old Black girls watching a parade, while Sesame Street character Rosita high-fived other attendees. When the girls reached out to Rosita as she approached, the character wagged her finger and shook her head as she passed the children.

LaMarr said that he and Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has previously been vocal about the incident, sat down weeks ago with executives at SeaWorld Entertainment. The meeting focused on how the company can substantively change its racist practices, lawyers said. LaMarr said that the Brown family was initially invited, but TMZ reported that they were not allowed in.

Brown's July video sparked numerous other Black families to come forward with similar claims, eventually leading to a $25 million class action lawsuit alleging a lengthy pattern of racial discrimination.

"(Children), some as young as 5 years old, adore these characters, and to be shunned by them so brazenly will have a lasting negative affect on their sense of self-worth," civil rights attorney William Murphy, who is representing one of the families, said in a statement.

While Brown is not a part of that suit, LaMarr says that they're monitoring the case closely.

Sesame Place has since announced mandatory diversity training for its employees as well as an assessment of its own equity practices. The company says that national civil rights experts will be conducting the training and assessment. Training for all current employees will be complete by the end of 2022 and will be incorporated into the the future training process for all new employees.

Cathy Valeriano, President of Sesame Place Philadelphia, said that the company is "committed" to making guests feel welcome and included.

"We have already begun engaging with employees, guests, civil rights groups as well as community leaders, and instituted some interim measures at the park while the review proceeds," Valeriano said in a statement. "The actions we are taking will help us deliver on our promise to provide an equitable and inclusive experience for all our guests every day."

The lawsuit alleges racist behavior dating to July 2018.