Sesame Street debuts two Black Muppets to explain racial literacy to Elmo

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 3/24/21

Sesame Street has taught children everything imaginable for 51 seasons and counting, so it is long overdue that the iconic series finally takes on race in a direct way.

Adjacent YouTube account "Sesame Street in Communities" introduced two Black muppets Tuesday: five-year-old Wes and his father, Elijah:

In the three-minute clip, Elmo joins Elijah and Wes on a park bench. Elmo finds a brown leaf and a red leaf, which sets up the conversation: "Elmo wants to know why Wes's skin is brown." Wes explains that his mom and dad had previously explained to him that he is brown because of the melanin in his skin, then Elijah teaches Elmo was melanin is. Ultimately, they all decide that all colors are beautiful—using a tree as a metaphor for the human race.

This was produced by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street and all of its spinoff programming. Sesame Workshop also launched its "Coming Together" initiative Tuesday, including "The ABCs of Racial Literacy."

Visit the official website to browse all of the new content.

More must-reads: