‘Sesame Street’ Educates Kids About Racism in CNN Town Hall

“Sesame Street” and CNN aired a town hall Saturday morning to help kids and families understand the nationwide protests on racial injustice.

Hosted by CNN’s Van Jones and Erica Hill, “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism” employed Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby and other “Sesame Street” favorites to help explain racism in the U.S. and answer important questions from children across the country.

“Not all streets are like Sesame Street,” Elmo’s dad, Louie, said when explaining the protests to Elmo. “On Sesame Street, we all love and respect one another. But 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. What we are seeing is people saying ‘Enough is enough.’ They want to end racism.”

Abby Cadabby explained how bullying people for how they look is wrong.

“One time my friend Big Bird, he was bullied because of his yellow feathers and because of how big he is and, well, it wasn’t kind and it wasn’t fair,” Abby Cadabby said. “I wouldn’t want to be treated like that so I understand how Big Bird was upset.”

Abby Cadabby’s story mirrors being an ally to the Black community and emphasizes how important it is to have empathy during times of racial injustice.

Besides featuring “Sesame Street” characters, the town hall also included Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who helped answer video questions from kids and their families.

When 7-year-old Solomon asked Mayor Bottoms if racism can be stopped, she replied: “Keep loving each other. And when you see someone who’s doing something wrong or saying something wrong, say that it’s wrong. Make sure when your friends sometimes do things they shouldn’t do, you say to them, ‘That’s not right and you shouldn’t do that,’ and say it with love and just lead by example.”

She also encouraged Black children to continue to speak out and share their experiences with others who may not be educated on it.

“We are the only race of people who came to this country enslaved, and it’s the reason that we have to continue to call on our history and speak our history,” Bottoms said. “And so while we respect people of all colors and all races, that when Black people are still being unfairly targeted very publicly it’s important that we speak that as well.”

Bottoms, who has four children, addressed a question from another mother who was struggling with how to discuss issues of race with her children.

“Sometimes, I just simply need to listen and let them feel and let them express their emotions because I don’t have all of the answers and I’m searching for the answers in the same way that they are,” Bottoms said.

Jennifer Harvey, a professor at Drake University, echoed the importance of starting discussions about racism early on with children, as they tend to mimic how their own parents respond in situations of injustice.

“Our children learn anti-racism and racial justice from us,” Harvey said. “If they watch us look away when we encounter racism, that’s what they learn the right thing to do is.”

Watch the full town hall on CNN’s website.