National Urban League Urges Sesame Place Parent Company To Address Allegations Of Discrimination

By National Urban League
Published05 PM EST, Fri Nov 22, 2024
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NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE URGES SESAME PLACE PARENT COMPANY TO ADDRESS ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION AND RACIST CORPORATE CULTURE

NEW YORK (July 30, 2022) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial today urged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, which operates Sesame Place, to address recent accusations of racial discrimination by building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company.

“The treatment that children experience in SeaWorld’s parks can live on as happy memories or lasting trauma,” Morial said. “It would be a grave mistake to dismiss these events, which have left children in tears and their families humiliated, as isolated incidents. Employee behavior is reflective of a wider corporate culture, and SeaWorld has been handed a rare opportunity to open that culture to the disinfecting sunshine of a transparent re-evaluation.”

Since a video of a costumed character appearing to snub two Black children at Sesame Place went viral earlier this month, other Black families have come forward to report similar experiences and one family has filed a federal lawsuit against the company.  

The National Urban League recommends that the company adopt a comprehensive strategic diversity plan within 90 days, to address the allegations and to improve its corporate Environmental & Social Governance (ESG) performance. The plan should include the following:

    • Increasing the representation of African Americans and other communities of color on its Board and in its C-suite.
    • Initiating an immediate effort to increase the number of diverse employees at all levels, including management, and making public the company’s current EE0-1 report
    • Initiating racial and cultural sensitivity training for all employees, both permanent and temporary, as well as all contractors, 
    • increasing its procurement activities with more contracting with minority-owned businesses including law firms, banks, investment advisors and other personal services businesses.
    • Immediate redress for families and individuals who experienced discrimination in any and all of SeaWorld’s parks
    • Increased investment in philanthropic partnerships with institutions led by and serving disadvantaged or underrepresented communities

SeaWorld should adopt a plan with specific goals and timetables to accomplish all the foregoing and make that plan available to the public, Morial said.

The National Urban League has long been the leader in working with corporations to set specific and quantifiable goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion, including memoranda of understanding with telecommunications giants T-Mobile, Charter, and  Comcast and NBC Universal, and ongoing consultations with the National Football League.

 

“The most successful companies understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not simply a matter of ticking off a checklist,” Morial said. “It’s a values-based imperative that must be embraced at every level, in every interaction both internal and external. The National Urban League stands ready to partner with SeaWorld to craft an effective strategy for cultural transformation.”