Father-son Muppets offer age-appropriate ‘ABCS of Racial Literacy’

Meet Elijah and Wes, fatherson Muppets from“sesame Street” that star in a new series educating children on race and racism.

As part of its “ongoing commitment to racial justice,” Sesame Workshop launched its “ABCS of Racial Literacy” program Tuesday, introducing Elijah and Wes.

In the first installment, titled “Explaining Race,” the father and son explain to Elmo why their skin is a different color than his red fur.

“Elmo wants to know why Wes’ skin is brown,” the fan-favorite Muppet tells his new friends.

“Melanin is something that we each have inside of our bodies that make the outside of our bodies the skin color that it is,” Elijah tells Elmo. “It also gives us our eye and our hair color.”

Asked by Elmo why his skin is a “darker brown” than his 5-yearold son’s skin, Elijah elaborates on the concept of pigmentation.

“That’s a good question, Elmo,” he says. “It’s because the more melanin you have, the darker your skin looks. The color of our skin is an important part of who we are, but we should all know that it’s OK that we all look different in so very many ways.”

“Explaining Race” is one of various resources created by Sesame Workshop to provide “age-appropriate language and strategies to answer sometimestough questions around race and racism,”according to Tuesday’s announcement.

Also coming soon is a follow-up short featuring Muppets Sofia and Rosita, who deal with the fallout of a racist encounter at a grocery store and celebrate speaking Spanish.