'Sesame Street' Introduces 2 Black Muppets To Teach About Race

ACROSS AMERICA — Two new neighbors have moved into "Sesame Street" as the long-running show announced earlier this month it's adding two Black Muppets to its cast as part of an effort to teach children about race and diversity.

The nonprofit responsible for the show, Sesame Workshop, said in a March 23 statement the move is a part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to racial justice through its "Coming Together" initiative. The new Muppets debuted in a video shared online by the organization last week as part of the initiative's "ABCs of Racial Literacy.”

In the video, 5-year-old Wes and his father, Elijah, are in a park when longtime Sesame Street resident Elmo approaches the two and ask why their skin is brown. Elijah explains to the red-colored Elmo it’s because of melanin.

"Melanin is something that we each have inside our bodies that make the outside of our bodies the skin color that it is," he says. "It also gives us our eye and our hair color."

Elijah goes onto explain that, although skin color is an important part of a person's identity, it's OK for other people to look different. He tells Elmo the differences in a person’s appearance shouldn’t get in the way of reminding people they’re all part of the same race — the human race.

Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president for Sesame Workshop, said in a statement it was important for the show to foster open, age-appropriate discussions about race and to build a child's racial literacy early so that they have a positive sense of their own identity and the identities of others.

“At Sesame Workshop, we look at every issue through the lens of a child. Children are not colorblind—not only do they first notice differences in race in infancy, but they also start forming their own sense of identity at a very young age,” she said.

Sesame Workshop will provide additional resources online to help adults foster discussions about race with their children, according to the nonprofit. The resources will be available in both English and Spanish.

This isn’t the first time "Sesame Street" has introduced a new resident to the neighborhood as a way to teach children about tough topics. The show has introduced characters with autism, HIV and another who was experiencing homelessness.