Roosevelt Franklin

One of the most prominent characters featured in the early years of the Street was the resident smart guy, Roosevelt Franklin.

Roosevelt was not your typical know-it-all.  He had a massive ego (he named the school after himself!) but was still very well-liked.  Roosevelt's favorite thing was to take front stage in the classroom while the teacher was absent and start teaching the class on his own.

Click to view... Smart Tina not so smart.

Where WAS the real teacher?  He or she was never seen.  Hiding in the teacher's lounge with Mr. Snuffleupagus, perhaps.


It all worked out because as much as Roosevelt liked teaching, the other kids in the class were just as eager to learn.

No one is sure what happened to Roosevelt and the rest of the gang in the long run, as the classroom skits were eventually phased out.  Hopefully they all lived up to their academic potential and grew up to become doctors.  Imagine Hardhead Henry Harris as a pediatrician.

When not in school, Roosevelt Franklin spent most of his time going over "lessons" with his mother.  She seemed to find him quite exasperating, but he never really did anything wrong.  He sure was animated, though.  Like too much sugar or something.

Click to view... Roosevelt Franklin KNOWS his alphabet.

All of these characters were clearly intended to be African-American.  Except they are puppets, and the Sesame puppets do not really belong to any "race."  They can be any of the colors of the rainbow.  Bert is yellow, but he is not Asian.  Suzette from Roosevelt's classroom is the same color as Kermit the Frog.  Which is a good example, actually.  Kermit is a frog, but "frog" is not a race.  Grover has blue fur, but is he supposed to be "white?"  It's impossible to say.

So there was obvious confusion in regards to Roosevelt and his friends.  If they were supposed to be "black" puppets, what exactly made them so?  Language?  Behavior?  No explanation was ever provided, and the characters were eventually eliminated.  I don't see why they couldn't have just been integrated with the rest of the puppets.  What difference would it make?  Puppets should be allowed to speak and behave however they want.  They don't have ethnic backgrounds.  They only have gender.

Click to view... Baaad news.