NEW YORK – Beloved children’s programme Sesame Street is taking on anti-Asian racism and bullying in a new song, Proud Of Your Eyes.
The 51-year-old show released a video of the song last week with three characters – Alan, the Japanese-American owner of Hooper’s Store; Wes, a recently added African American kid; and Analyn, who is of Filipino descent.
Analyn tells Alan and Wes that a boy ridiculed her eyes and called them “slanty”, which left her feeling sad.
She then asks if her eyes are indeed ugly and they reassure her that her eyes are beautiful and part of what makes her who she is.
The lyrics of the song go: “Your eyes tell the story of your family/They show where you come from and how you came to be/The colour, the shape and the size/Should always make you proud of your eyes.”
Analyn says the song reminds her that her eyes look just like those of her beautiful grandmother, Lola, and the heartwarming video ends with a group hug.
Proud Of Your Eyes is part of Sesame Workshop’s Coming Together initiative, which aims to help children understand and celebrate different ethnicities and cultures.
Another video, Breathe, Feel, Share, was uploaded last week. It features Wes learning to cope after he was teased for bringing curry chicken to school for lunch.