A family is suing Disneyland after claiming that the actor playing the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, refused to hug or touch their children because of their race.
Jason and Annelia Black, said the actor acted impatiently when posing for photos with their children, who are black, but when a white family came on the scene the rabbit acted differently.
New York Daily News reported that the Blacks, from San Diego, say the white rabbit ignored their two sons and cousins during a trip in August.
"Regardless of whether the guy in the costume was a racist - I don't know who he is or if he's white - the way he behaved, he was treating my clients differently," the Black's attorney, Dan Gilleon, said to the Daily News. "And the only thing that was different about them was that they were black."
Gileon added to The NY Daily News that the Blacks had visited the park a few weeks before and were not ignored by the rabbit who is their child Jason Jr's favorite character.
"The rabbit was turning his back on (my brother) like he didn't even want to touch him," Elijah Black, 9, said to KSAZ-TV. "I went up to try to hold his hand but he kept on flicking my hand off."
The boys' father, Jason LeRoy Black Sr., initially thought the park had implemented a new policy preventing the characters from touching children.
Jason Black said to Fox 5 News that he initially thought the park had implemented a new policy in which the characters were not allowed to touch children. He said to CBS that when two other kids came up to the rabbit the rabbit hugged, kissed them, posed with them ad took pictures with them. "Meanwhile, that made my kids feel horrible," he said.
The family filed a complaint with Disneyland and were offered VIP tickets but they refused them. Then Disnelyand offered them $500 and a confidentiality agreement which they also turned down. The family is asking for an apology and for the employee to be fired.
Suzi Brown, from Disneyland, said to The Daily Mail, "It would be inappropriate to comment on something that we have not seen. We carefully review all guest claims."
Fox5SanDiego.com reported that Jason Jr. said of the incident, "I went to hug him, but he turned his back. It's made me feel sad because I wanted to really hug him."
