February 8, 2013
Black Family Claims Child Was Snubbed by Racist Rabbit at Disneyland
A black family of San Diego, Calif., is suing Disneyland for racism after they say two of their children, ages 6 and 9, were treated differently than other kids who were interacting with a costumed actor playing “the White Rabbit” from Alice in Wonderland, the Huffington Post reports.
The White Rabbit character reportedly turned its back when one of the children attempted to hug him, and when the other child went to hold his hand, “he kept on flicking [his] hand off,” the family told KTLA. The incident occurred last August and the family has been talking with Disneyland about it ever since.
“Our first instinct was okay, maybe they have new policies, maybe they aren’t supposed to touch the kids,†the boys’ father, Jason Black Sr., told KTLA. “So then, you know, we stood by and we just watched.”
Black Sr. continued, saying, “There was two other [white] kids that came up, and the rabbit showered them… hugged them, kissed them, posed with them and took pictures. Meanwhile, that made my kids feel horrible.â€
The family’s attorney thinks this may not be an isolated incident because he’s been investigating a myraid of similar incidents. On Thursday, San Diego’s ABC 10 News reported that a Los Angeles woman filed a separate racism lawsuit against Disneyland alleging that Donald Duck ignored her children because they are black.