In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, CNN partnered with “Sesame Street” for a special town hall about racism.
On Saturday morning, the special “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism” aired. It hit on all of the important topics, including how to fight racism, and even who to call when police officers are being unsafe.
“Elmo doesn’t understand, what’s happening?” The three-year-old Muppet asked his father Louie regarding people gathering on the street.
Louie then explained to Elmo what a protest is, and that people are coming together to show that they are upset, and want to make others aware through protesting.
When Elmo asked why people were upset, his father replied that the protesters are upset because racism is a big problem in our country. Understandably, Elmo didn’t quite understand what racism meant, but Louie continued to explain, and had the incredibly important conversation with his son.
“Racism is when people treat other people unfairly because of the way they look or the color of their skin,” Louie explained to Elmo. “Not all streets are like Sesame Street. On Sesame Street, we all love and respect on another. Across the country, people of color, especially in the black community, are being treated unfairly because of how they look, their culture, race and who they are.”
Louie then told Elmo that the protests are showing that people are saying ‘enough is enough,’ and they want to end racism.
“Not all streets are like Sesame Street. … What we are seeing is people saying ‘enough is enough.’ They want to end racism.”@Elmo’s dad Louie explains why people are protesting across the US. https://t.co/icV04F4FNW #CNNSesameStreet pic.twitter.com/1efrMAzZ8V
— CNN (@CNN) June 6, 2020
“Elmo wants to end racism too,” the Muppet responded. “Elmo wants everyone to be treated fairly.”
Louie explained that in order to help, we must learn, discuss what is happening, and take action.
As parents, we have a huge responsibility to educate our children about racism, and it is never too early to have the conversation. It is amazing to see shows like Sesame Street address racism in this capacity, and hopefully these conversations keep happening as we all continue to learn and listen.
