Natyana Muhammad, 29, posted a video Sunday of her 2-year-old daughter, Safa, at a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party in Wayne the day before. In the video, the mascot comes out and offers high-fives to a group of children on the stage, who all appear to be white, and then ignores a small Black girl who tries to get the character’s attention.
The video has been viewed more than 3 million times on Twitter.
“I stopped recording. I actually tapped Chuck E. on his arm to let him know that Safa was standing right there, and he ignored me,” Muhammad told NBC News on Wednesday.
Safa had never seen Chuck E. Cheese in person, so her mother was excited to get her reaction on camera.
Muhammad said their family was in the party room because Safa was a guest of one of the birthday parties. She said the mascot didn’t go to their table at all until a manager pushed it to.
The location’s manager told Muhammad that the mascot hadn’t seen her daughter and insisted on arranging a photo for Safa with Chuck E. Cheese, but Safa was visibly upset. Muhammad said she was looking for a lawyer to discuss her options about a potential lawsuit.
“You don’t do that,” Muhammad said. “Not only was it unnecessary, it was inhumane to do that to a toddler.”
PLEASE RETWEET‼️ On July 30 at Chuck E Cheese in Wayne, NJ, my 2yo was racially discriminated against. As you can see, he gives all of the yt kids hi-5s & PURPOSELY ignored my black baby. When confronted, he ignored me as well. The manager, Angie Valasquez, made excuses for him.. pic.twitter.com/QMmE3wmti1
— Umm Safa 🩰 (@belllahijabi) July 31, 2022
Muhammad was a guest of Tawan Thompson, 51, who was hosting a birthday party for her 2-year-old grandson that afternoon. Thompson said the mascot ignored her grandson’s entire party and then walked past their table and interacted with a family who was having an event at another table.
“I don’t know the reason why it happened,” Thompson said. “I don’t know who’s behind that costume and why they did what they did. But it wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t nice.”
Thompson spoke with two managers at the location who offered to have Chuck E. Cheese come back and spend time with their party, but she declined. The next day, Thompson’s daughter spoke with a general manager who said they were unaware of the incident.
Article Appeared @https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/chuck-e-cheese-deeply-saddened-mother-posts-video-mascot-ignoring-blac-rcna41335