Disney in hot water again over character interaction or lack there of!!

[JulyGirl]

Bottom line, there is no way to prove that this incident was an act of racism. No words seemed to be exchanged in these interactions. Seeing the White Rabbit in a friendlier pose with a couple of white children does not equal racism. I'd put money on just as many white children getting the standard poses that the black family received.

I've stood in many character lines. I've seen different interactions for all types of people. I have no idea how CMs decide who should get more attention, but it does happen. Should I cry agism if a 3 year old gets a hug, but I get a standard pose? I'm guessing that this family caught the rabbit just as he was coming out from backstage and not in his normal meet and greet location. I've seen families practically chase characters when they step out into the public. I've seen characters wave and keep walking to get to where they need to be. No racism involved.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

I think if it were me, I would have hung out discreetly and watched what happened when other black children came up eventually.
I'm not saying I agree, because I just don't know, but I don't get an icky "race card" vibe from the couple at the interview. They seem hurt and not at all bitter or like it's something they throw out there all the time. I just didn't get a bad vibe from them.

The white rabbit must not be black in that suit though, or Disney would have said so immediately, I think. It would have put a quick damper on the family's claim. No?

 

[disykat]

The white rabbit must not be black in that suit though, or Disney would have said so immediately, I think.

I doubt that. I think they avoid publicly acknowledging that there are people in those costumes.

Maybe I missed something, I don't know if it's been tied down to a specific person. I think the lawsuit is general. They may not know who was in the costume.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

They may not know who was in the costume.

I'm sure the family went to guest services the day they were there to complain. With times and locations, they could easily narrow down who played the White Rabbit that day.

I would love to know if they waited in line for their pics or did they just run into the rabbit while he was on his way to or from backstage.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

As to the topic: I HATE it when people play the race card.

The saddest part for me is that it's like the boy who cried wolf. So many folks are so quick to cry "racism" that it makes folks doubt the validity of those cases of ACTUAL racism.

 

[mhsjax]

I don't wonder why racism exists -- it's because some people are racist. It seems you're implying that racism would go away if black people would just learn to ignore it.

It would be taken more seriously if people wouldn't claim the race card every time something didn't go exactly their way. It happens all the time, don't get what I want I will claim discrimination.

 

[donaldlovesdaisy]

I think if it were me, I would have hung out discreetly and watched what happened when other black children came up eventually.
I'm not saying I agree, because I just don't know, but I don't get an icky "race card" vibe from the couple at the interview. They seem hurt and not at all bitter or like it's something they throw out there all the time. I just didn't get a bad vibe from them.

The white rabbit must not be black in that suit though, or Disney would have said so immediately, I think. It would have put a quick damper on the family's claim. No?

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if maybe they have dealt with some previous issues of racism/discrimination before which have resulted in them being ultra sensitive. They did not strike me as the AL Sharptons of this world who cry wolf and lie for nothing more then monetary gain. I for one would love to hear the entire story but I doubt we ever will.

 

[luvmy3]

And here we go, another family is claiming racism
http://www.10news.com/news/second-family-files-lawsuit-alleges-racism-at-disneyland-020713

Could you imagine if every family, no matter their color, decided to sue Disney because their child was disappointed they didn't get a hug from a character. It happens. Your child will get over it, but if you as the parent are making it about your race, they never will.

Back in 2008 my asthmatic ds didn't get a hug from Goofy. My dd did, and my other ds did. The only logical explanation was he saw my ds take a puff off his inhaler and was discriminating against him for it. I should have sued!

 

[sharonmickey]

I wasn't there when the White Rabbit incident occurred so I don't know what happened. However I agree with this:

It would be taken more seriously if people wouldn't claim the race card every time something didn't go exactly their way. It happens all the time, don't get what I want I will claim discrimination.

There is a child that attends the school I work at. He is not a well behaved child. Whenever he is reprimanded his response is "It's because I'm black, isn't it?" He's been saying this for at least two years. Ridiculous. Being asked to stop talking back to the teacher or being mean to other students has nothing to do with skin color. Any student behaving in this manner is asked to stop.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

And here we go, another family is claiming racism
http://www.10news.com/news/second-family-files-lawsuit-alleges-racism-at-disneyland-020713

Could you imagine if every family, no matter their color, decided to sue Disney because their child was disappointed they didn't get a hug from a character. It happens. Your child will get over it, but if you as the parent are making it about your race, they never will.

Back in 2008 my asthmatic ds didn't get a hug from Goofy. My dd did, and my other ds did. The only logical explanation was he saw my ds take a puff off his inhaler and was discriminating against him for it. I should have sued!

From the article:

Disney wouldn't confirm whether the two incidents involve two employees playing different characters, but officials said they were surprised by this story because the original complaint had no mention of discrimination, just a child being ignored.

One was White Rabbit and one was Donald. Not getting into details, but anyone who has worked entertainment knows it's not the same employee. And, of course Disney won't confirm or deny anything involving a person in a costume. They work hard to maintain the magic and will never publicly state that there is a person playing a part unless they are forced to do so.

 

[spacemountainmom]

I wasn't there when the White Rabbit incident occurred so I don't know what happened. However I agree with this:



There is a child that attends the school I work at. He is not a well behaved child. Whenever he is reprimanded his response is "It's because I'm black, isn't it?" He's been saying this for at least two years. Ridiculous. Being asked to stop talking back to the teacher or being mean to other students has nothing to do with skin color. Any student behaving in this manner is asked to stop.

This x 1,000,000!!!

I was just going to post a comparable story. When I started working in the schools, my first job was study hall supervisor. My first study hall of the day was with 8th graders. The students were supposed to be sitting in their desks working quietly. I had one young man who would get up, roam around and talk to everyone. He frequently was in trouble with me. Each time, his response was, "it's because I am Asian, right?" One morning he really pushed my buttons with that response and I said the following, "I don't care if you are white, black, red, yellow, green, purple or pink...you are breaking the rules in my classroom and you will suffer the consequences!" Many of the students in my room stood up and applauded.

Over the years, I have had the race card thrown in my face countless times and I always tell them that I don't care what race they are or the color of their skin, if you break the rules, you will be punished. It shuts them right down.

Now to get back on topic, I have no idea what happened with the White Rabbit and that family so I will reserve judgement. My feeling is that is could be anything. The family may have cut the line. The kids might have given off the "stay back" vibe. The family's expectations might have been a little high due to Disney commercials that show that you can run up to characters and they will skip along merrily with your family. I don't know.

 

[kidshop]

From the article:


One was White Rabbit and one was Donald. Not getting into details, but anyone who has worked entertainment knows it's not the same employee. And, of course Disney won't confirm or deny anything involving a person in a costume. They work hard to maintain the magic and will never publicly state that there is a person playing a part unless they are forced to do so.

And you will note, this time the last name is WHITE. Hysterical! I thought it was inappropriately funny when it was the White rabbit and the Black family.

Is it discrimination when white, Hispanic or Asian children don 't get hugs and attention by Disney characters or just black children?

 

[MM27]

This x 1,000,000!!!

I was just going to post a comparable story. When I started working in the schools, my first job was study hall supervisor. My first study hall of the day was with 8th graders. The students were supposed to be sitting in their desks working quietly. I had one young man who would get up, roam around and talk to everyone. He frequently was in trouble with me. Each time, his response was, "it's because I am Asian, right?" One morning he really pushed my buttons with that response and I said the following, "I don't care if you are white, black, red, yellow, green, purple or pink...you are breaking the rules in my classroom and you will suffer the consequences!" Many of the students in my room stood up and applauded.

Over the years, I have had the race card thrown in my face countless times and I always tell them that I don't care what race they are or the color of their skin, if you break the rules, you will be punished. It shuts them right down.

Now to get back on topic, I have no idea what happened with the White Rabbit and that family so I will reserve judgement. My feeling is that is could be anything. The family may have cut the line. The kids might have given off the "stay back" vibe. The family's expectations might have been a little high due to Disney commercials that show that you can run up to characters and they will skip along merrily with your family. I don't know.

I've been hit with the race card a few times during my teaching career. I have a student this year that came to me one morning telling me that kids in the cafeteria at breakfast told him he stinks. So he comes up to me and says, "do I?" As he got closer and I took a whiff, I realized that that smell I've been smelling in my classroom was in fact him. I had been spraying Lysol everyday but couldn't pinpoint the odor. So I sent him to the nurse, which is what we're supposed to do and she called the parent. Nurse told me that the first words out of the mother's mouth were, "The teacher is just picking on him because he's black." The child was still with the nurse and they were on speakerphone and the child was trying to tell the mother that it was the other kids that were saying it, but she didn't want to hear it. Nurse (who is also black) tried to calm her down, but she was convinced that is why I sent him to her. Now mind you, I have 22 kids in my class and 16 of them are black. Mother ended up calling the principal (also black) to complain about me. Principal, who is very no nonsense told the mother that he went into the nurses office and the child did in fact have a foul odor. He asked if she would like to come provide clean clothes or if the school could have him change into a new uniform that they would provide. I never heard anything from her myself.

 

[davedmaine]

There are three sides to every story.

Just because they're claiming racism, doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

Doesn't mean it's not true either. Disney was very quick to try to brush this under the rug. Not everyone who works for Disney is an angel.

 

[iheartdisney]

Now that I think about it, Sunday we were in line for Luigi's Flying tires, and the CM that counted us out gave Carsland buttons to the Hispanic children in front of us, and not to my causation children. Never thought I had a lawsuit. Anyone have Gloria Allred's number?

 

[luvmy3]

From the article:


One was White Rabbit and one was Donald. Not getting into details, but anyone who has worked entertainment knows it's not the same employee. And, of course Disney won't confirm or deny anything involving a person in a costume. They work hard to maintain the magic and will never publicly state that there is a person playing a part unless they are forced to do so.

I just want to clear up any confusion, I wasn't claiming that it was the same CM.

 

[disykat]

I'm sure the family went to guest services the day they were there to complain. With times and locations, they could easily narrow down who played the White Rabbit that day.

I would love to know if they waited in line for their pics or did they just run into the rabbit while he was on his way to or from backstage.

You're sure? I didn't see anything in the article that indicated this or that they had pinpointed the employee.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

One of my favorite differences between Disneyland and WDW is the informal character meets. Many characters are posed into quiet corners with no formal queue line. Many characters at Disneyland don't even have handlers. Usually an spontaneous line forms from courteous guests. I have seen many instances were families were unaware of the line or chose to ignore it. Also the nature of the character and ages of the children could be a factor in this instance.

I fear the end to these types of meets.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I just want to clear up any confusion, I wasn't claiming that it was the same CM.

Oh I'm sure you weren't and I'm sorry if my post came across as me assuming you thought that they were the same. I was just amused by the article stating that there was no one who was willing to state whether or not the cast member was the same. Of course not. There are 2 different height group between the two characters.



It seems that so many are ready to cry racism at the drop of a hat, whether warranted or not. Because of this, people have really grown numb to the racism card. Many are skeptical of it in this situation because of this as well as because of the circumstances described couple with our own character experiences.

 

[padams]

With the internet, these news articles will live on for eternity. I wonder if either family has considered that future employers, schools, etc. will be able to google their names and the kids' names, and see that these families filed lawsuits over whether a costume character hugged their kids. The long term consequences might not be worth whatever payout they can get from Disney.