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When Sesame Street first aired in November of 1969, I was already 7 years old, making me several years past their target audience. So while I didn't grow up cutting my teeth on the program, millions of children who came after me did and they are all the better for it.
Aside from the early education the show provides kids, it is the values Sesame Street instills in our children that are perhaps even more important. Sure, Sesame Street teaches kids the alphabet and how to count, but it also teaches them about sharing and having empathy for others. All laudable and noble efforts. To most anyway.
In 1970, the Commission on Educational Television in Mississippi decided to ban Sesame Street from the airwaves. Their reasoning — many of the commissioners were very much opposed to showing the program because it used "a highly integrated cast of children." They decided that Mississippi "was not ready" to show their citizenry precious little white children mixing it up with the wrong kind.
The story was leaked to the New York Times by the one commissioner whose knuckles didn't drag on the ground. Other news organizations quickly jumped on the story and soon the entire country was expressing outrage. After getting pummeled for 22 straight days, Mississippi finally relented.
Ironically, it was a native son of Mississippi who was one of the most instrumental forces on Sesame Street. Jim Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi.
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April 27, 2015
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