Elmo’s world is getting "woke."
Sesame Street is now forcing children to learn about “racial literacy” by adding two black puppets named Wes and Elijah to their program. According to NBC, the addition was planned by Sesame Workshop, “the nonprofit educational organization behind the long-running show.”
In one new episode, Elmo, whose character is perpetually 3 years old, wants to know why his friend Elijah has brown skin, launching Elijah's dad, Wes, into an explanation about melanin.
The Workshop also created the "Coming Together" series, which is designed to assist parents that are trying to “discuss race and racism with their children,” among other things.
Senior Vice President Dr. Jeanette Betancourt of Sesame Workshop says she believes that kids would benefit from the show.
“By encouraging these much-needed conversations through Coming Together, we can help children build a positive sense of identity and value the identities of others,” she said.
Similarly, Kay Wilson Stallings, the executive vice president of creative and production at Sesame Workshop, thought it was the company’s duty to help kids learn about racism.
"Sesame Workshop has always stood for diversity, inclusion, equity and kindness," she said. "As a trusted source for families, we have a responsibility to speak out for racial justice and empower families to have conversations about race and identity with their children at a young age."
This might have been a good idea if systematic racism was actually a widespread problem today. “Coming Together” would have been more appropriate in the last two centuries when there wasn’t any “racial justice,” when Jim Crow Laws and lynchings were much more commonplace. But in the days of equal rights laws and millionaire black athletes, talk show hosts and presidents, this push by Sesame Street to have kids learn about race, racism and racial justice is nothing more than a perpetuation of an issue that isn’t relevant anymore.