The child’s pose and the costume’s gloves and mask were compared to caricatures of Black people used in minstrel shows.
US retail corporation Target said that it has pulled a controversial Halloween costume off its shelves after social media users criticized it and claimed it resembled a racist caricature. The ad image for the costume, sold as the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,” showed a Black child in a bright orange and black top with solid black gloves and a mask with a wide, toothy smile.
This controversy was only the latest in a series of controversies for the Minneapolis-based retailer.
Activists called for a boycott of Target last year after its decision to walk-back DEI initiatives. Just last week, the American Federation of Teachers, a teachers’ union, urged Target’s CEO, Michael Fiddelke, to call for an end to Operation Metro Surge, President Donald Trump’s National Guard push in Minneapolis earlier this year.
