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Target Pulls Halloween Costume After Racist Backlash

8/26/2026

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Summary

Target Pulls Controversial Costume

Target pulled the Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown costume after social-media backlash over racist minstrel imagery.
Boycott organizer Jaylani Hussein said the incident will boost the boycott.
Target’s stock fell to $163.47 on Aug. 25, down 3.78%.
Activists claim the boycott erased over $20 billion in market value, a 33% share-price drop.
CEO Michael Fiddelke’s turnaround plan adds $2 billion investments by 2026 and over 30 new stores.

Summary

Target Withdraws Costume

Target released a Halloween costume in its Hyde and EEK! Boutique line that depicts a Black child in blackface-like attire.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture notes blackface originated after the Civil War in minstrel shows.
Minstrel shows stereotyped Black individuals as ignorant, hypersexual, lazy, and prone to thievery.
Comedian LaTrez Anderson called the costume “a new low,” citing its offensive legacy.

History

Historical Context

In February 1843 the Virginia Minstrels, a four-man troupe, gave New York’s Bowery Amphitheatre its first full-length blackface minstrel show, launching a genre that Thomas Dartmouth Rice later popularized with “Jump Jim Crow.” The minstrel craze spread through taverns, circuses and national tours, cementing racist caricatures that activists now cite while condemning Target’s 2024 Black-child costume.

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Target Pulls Controversial Costume

Target pulled the Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown costume after social-media backlash over racist minstrel imagery.
Boycott organizer Jaylani Hussein said the incident will boost the boycott.
Target’s stock fell to $163.47 on Aug. 25, down 3.78%.
Activists claim the boycott erased over $20 billion in market value, a 33% share-price drop.
CEO Michael Fiddelke’s turnaround plan adds $2 billion investments by 2026 and over 30 new stores.

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