A short incident is being used to claim horrendous accusations against a Sesame Place performer. Maybe it’s a reminder why we should strive to be kind.
We live in a time right now in which people are often slow to thoughtfulness, uninterested in full facts, but very quick to condemnation. In the case of a worker at Sesame Place, a single viral video is being used to assassinate the character of whomever is behind the Rosita mask.
https://twitter.com/LeslieMac/status/1548727928476901376
Here is the original response from Sesame Place to the incident:
However, that did not quell the situation. Instead, the video went viral and people began raging online about two little girls who were mistreated by a giant Rosita in a parade. If the actor in the parade purposefully did this based on racist feelings, clearly that would be horrendous. However, we’re so far from being able to make such an accusation that one can only think that this is fearmongering and mob mentality. Here are some of the things we don’t know to make any sort of sound decision:
- We don’t know the race of the individual in the costume. What if the performer is of African descent?
- There are claims of other clips of Rosita ignoring dark-skinned children. Are there clips of this same performer in this same costume hugging and waving at children of African descent? Surely there are if the park has cameras.
- The other supposed clips don’t have dates or time stamps, nor do they have context. Could we have those before determining someone is a racist?
- Did the performer ever continue walking without spending much time with children of other ethnicities?
There are a bunch of shameful things about this whole incident. It’s sorrowful that people would feel so maligned in society that they would expect a parade character with almost no exterior vision is purposefully hating small children for their ethnicity. That’s not the first conclusion I would go with. There have been many times I have seen children of all ethnicities ignored or skipped over in a parade by various characters and I’ve never worried that it was because of their melanin. What a sad world that people would have experiences that lead them to such a place.
Another shameful thing, though, is that people are making money off the character assassination of someone who probably makes minimum wage and wants to make children happy. Take a look at this clip where clearly division is the modus operandi of making cash:
According to the original statement from the performer playing Rosita, the “no” motion from their hand is in response to a request to hold a child for a photograph. It’s also possible that during the parade, characters have to keep moving… and sometimes that means they can’t visit with every single child for more than a moment.
I think this is an opportunity for kindness. I think it’s vitally important that we use such moments for kindness.
This is a moment to be kind to the performer. We know nothing of them, yet so many are assuming the very worst of their heart off of a clip lasting only a few seconds. We should be kind instead. This is a moment to be kind to the little girls who felt excluded. I’m glad that Sesame Place offered a special visit with the characters to these children. I hope it brings them joy. That’s a good example of kindness. This is a moment to think about the people who are so easily led to accept racism as the primary source for this event. It’s a reminder that those people may have experiences that have led them to this place where being treated poorly feels like the most realistic answer. If we all took time to be kind to one another, that would be a harder reality to believe in.
I don’t know what is going on here. I don’t know if the performer was in a hurry, asked to do something improper, didn’t want to hug children of African descent… I don’t know. I do know that it’s sad that I can only imagine that it will lead to less interactions with all children for future parades in all parks around the country. For each time that something like this could occur based on racism, surely there would be more times that would occur based on misunderstanding. But that wouldn’t stop the media from running with it. It’s too late — we’ve already rewarded the algorithm with this video. Now the clickbaiters know they can get money off of something like this, instead of making sure the little girls get to meet a cute character and receive a hug.
That’s a shame. But it’s definitely an opportunity for kindness. Let’s aim for that.
For all the news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts, politely and kindly.
