The US children’s television show has released videos featuring two new Muppets to educate children about race.
The non-profit Sesame Workshop aims to “provide families with the tools they need to build racial literacy”.
In one of the videos African American dad Elijah and his son Wes, spoke to well-loved furry red Muppet Elmo about differences in skin colour due to melanin. In the three-minute segment, the Muppets stress the importance of not forgetting that despite differences in appearance we are all human.
Elijah explains “Melanin is something that we each have inside our bodies that makes the outside of our bodies the skin colour that it is. It also gives us our eye and our hair colour.”
Wes and his dad will not be the only new characters on the show, and it will also discuss encounters of racism and how children can cope when approached with these situations.
