I think it was Jimmy Fallon who joked "and what races are the other Muppets supposed to be?"

When I first heard Sesame Street's announcement, I thought the same, until I remembered the "black" Muppet from 50 years ago - Roosevelt Franklin. (He was actually kind of purple, but somehow, as a kid, I didn't see that.)

As it happens, there's a fascinating article about RF - from 2013!

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2013/08/14/franklin-bashed-whatever-happened-to-the-first-black-muppet

By Steve Schneider.

Quote:



...A few weeks ago, I was engaging in one of my favorite pastimes: scouring the Web for pop-culture detritus while convincing myself I’m working. On this particular day, I came across a picture of the aforementioned hand puppet, and I felt deeply
disoriented. As far as I could recall, Roosevelt Franklin hadn’t been merchandised like the other Sesame Street characters. In my memory, he was just an underappreciated also-ran – an even more obscure cousin to Charles Schulz’s similarly monikered
Franklin.

Clicking further, I learned just how wrong I had been. According to Muppet Wiki, Roosevelt Franklin had initially been considered one of the show’s main characters. As such, he had been present and accounted for on store shelves, right alongside the
Cookie Monster and Ernie and Bert. In fact, his 1971 record album, the wonderfully named The Year of Roosevelt Franklin, was the first Sesame Street LP devoted entirely to a single character.

Yet within a few seasons, he would be gone from the show. What happened? As it turns out, Roosevelt Franklin was just too black. Or too white. Or something. Nobody could seem to decide – and to some degree, maybe they still can’t.

Some parents’ groups, it’s said, were put off by the character’s supposedly unruly behavior. Certainly, Roosevelt Franklin was an energetic little guy, prone to busting into joyous rhymes and physical contortions while imparting one of his
impassioned life lessons...

(snip)

I remember at least three sketches from "Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School." Here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ehFz4OPn0Q

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On 2021-11-16 17:56:45 +0000, Lenona said:

I think it was Jimmy Fallon who joked "and what races are the other
Muppets supposed to be?"

I don't know about the race, but Ernie is orange, so maybe he's meant
to be a young Donald Trump. ;-)

You also have to wonder what species Elmo and Oscar are.

Then there are talking frogs, pigs, dogs, etc. ... must completely
confuse kids when they find there aren't any in the real world.

When I first heard Sesame Street's announcement, I thought the same,
until I remembered the "black" Muppet from 50 years ago - Roosevelt
Franklin. (He was actually kind of purple, but somehow, as a kid, I
didn't see that.)

<snip>

Earlier this year Sesame Street also added two new black Muppets, which
are black-skinned, but one has a bright purple nose and the other has a
bright orange nose. They even specifically mention the nose as one of
the "racial features", so does that mean all black people have purple
or orange noses?!
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWSD2zeXl4Q>


All this moronic "Politically Correct" garbage has to stop. :-\

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