Critics are slamming Disney as “woke” and “anti-white” over an episode of a kids show that features a song covering the history of slavery in the US and the need for “reparations.”
The backlash stemmed from a Juneteenth episode of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” a reboot of the popular early aughts cartoon that airs on Disney’s streaming service Disney+.
A clip from the episode that’s been making the rounds on social media shows characters singing a tune about how America has “still not atoned for” slavery and systemic racism.
“Slaves built this country and we the descendants of slaves in America have earned reparations for their suffering and continue to earn reparations every moment we spend submerged in a systemic prejudice, racism and white supremacy that America was founded with and still has not atoned for,” the animated characters chanted from a stage.
The clip was shared by the “End Wokeness” Twitter account with the caption “Blatant anti-white propaganda.”
Conservative writer Christopher Rufo re-shared the video on Twitter calling it “pure critical race theory.”
“This is toxic, divisive, and destructive,” one Twitter user wrote in the replies.
Others accused Disney of forcing a “woke” agenda down children’s throats.
Rufo also said the clip includes “the insane conspiracy theory that Lincoln did not free the slaves.”
The song credits the abolitionists who fought for the end of slavery and helped sway public attitudes towards it before Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending it.
“We had Tubman, Turner, Frederick D. Then they say Lincoln freed the slaves, but slaves were men and women and only we can free ourselves. Emancipation is not freedom,” the characters sang. “Jim Crow, segregation, redlining, public schools feeding private prisons where we become slaves again.”
Despite the loud criticism, the clip also garnered a lot of praise.
“Thanks for sharing, absolutely excellent clip. How great to see the truth of history in a way kids can understand,” one person replied.
“Yeah so may not be something OP agrees with but they ain’t inaccurate,” comedian Billy Procida replied to the tweet of the clip.
The animated pre-teens — all but one of whom are black — also chant that they “demand our 40 acres and a mule,” in reference to a promise made to freed slaves following the Civil War in an apparent request for reparations.
“We’ll take the 40 acres, keep the mule,” they sang. “We made your families rich — from the southern plantation heirs to the northern bankers to the New England ship owners, the founding fathers, former presidents, current senators…”
Activists more and more have called on the US government to provide reparations to the descendants of enslaved people, often in the form of financial restitution.