RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Retailer Target pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves Monday after widespread social media backlash, apologizing for selling a garment critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures.
Critics say the costume, along with its promotional image of a Black child modeling the get-up, is reminiscent of caricatures from Jim Crow-era minstrel shows that embedded stereotypes into popular culture and helped justify discrimination, segregation and racial violence.
“As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale,” Target said in a statement.
“We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again.”
The costume misstep happened as Target’s sales have started rebounding from earlier company moves that alienated some customers and from a perception the quality of its stores and merchandise had declined.
It is the latest controversy for the retailer, which joined companies like Meta , Walmart , and McDonald’s in rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts after President Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
The “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween costume,” an orange-and-black circus clown costume, now deleted from the Target website, featured gloves, a top hat and a grinning mask with large teeth.
‘Not simply getting it wrong’
“A Jim Crow-era minstrel costume is not simply getting it wrong. It is a profoundly harmful symbol of racism that should never have been designed, approved, or sold by Target,” said the Rev. Jamal Bryant, a Georgia pastor who led a 40-day “Target Fast” boycott last year. “It shows that Target still lacks corporate diversity among decision-makers and needs concrete internal change.”
In January 2025, the Minneapolis-based corporation ended its three-year DEI program , stopping reports to external groups like the Human Rights Campaign and ended a program focused on carrying more products from Black- or minority-owned businesses, replacing it with a new “Belonging” strategy. The company previously stated that the murder of George Floyd was a catalyst for its DEI initiatives.
Activist-organizers called for a boycott of Target, which lost roughly $12.4 billion in market value by the end of February from January.
Minnesota civil rights activists, separate from Bryant, organized a national Target boycott, resulting in a 33% fall in the corporation’s stock prices and wiped out over $20 billion in market value.
Target’s recent recovery
Target has managed a recovery in recent months. The stock closed at $165.44 on Aug.21, a fresh 52-week high, after a strong second quarter. On Aug. 24, Target’s shares closed at $169.89.
Target’s stock is up roughly 63% this year, a sharp rebound from the depths of the boycott. The company’s turnaround strategy, launched by new CEO Michael Fiddelke after former CEO Brian Cornell stepped down, includes store refreshes, increased staffing, and more aggressive pricing. Target announced a plan in March to invest $2 billion in 2026, including $1 billion in additional operating investments, with plans to open more than 30 new stores this year as part of its path to 300 new stores by 2035, while investing in over 130 planned full-store remodels.
Bruce Winder, a retail analyst and former retail buyer, says that inventory errors, such as the recent Prada and Gucci controversies , “can happen to the best of them.”
“These things happen over time. I think the most important thing for Target, and they did it, was to quickly take accountability, quickly say sorry, acknowledge that this was a big mistake, and pull the product from the shelves,” Winder said.
Boycott organizers undeterred
Target boycott organizers in Minneapolis, including Nekima Levy Armstrong and community leaders Monique Cullars-Doty and Jaylani Hussein, remain steadfast in their divestment calls .
They have continued to press the company to reinstate its DEI programs and continue its commitments to Black communities, and they say the costume controversy is a refresher on their mission.
“It’s important for people to understand that the Target boycott never ended; that it was indefinite from the beginning, unless and until Target reversed course on its decision to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Armstrong, an organizer of the national Target boycott.
“What we’ve seen is Target engaging in PR campaigns: recruiting high-visibility Black ministers to meet with them, partnering with (rapper and businessman) Jay-Z, all types of different shenanigans to deflect from the fact that they abandon their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and capitulation to the Trump administration.”
Hussein, another boycott organizer, said the costume incident was “not surprising.”
“It was almost predictable because of the behavior of Target, and I think this is going to build on the momentum of the boycott. More people are going to be upset,” he said.
“It’s not just an incident with a costume. There are a lot of people right now in this country across many parts who’ve changed their culture of shopping, who have found other places to put their money behind.”
Target Corporation’s stock closed at $163.47 on Aug. 25, dropping 3.78% from its previous close the day prior.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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