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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Adria R Walker

Target apologizes for ‘offensive’ Halloween costume after backlash

People walk by a Target storefront
People walk by a Target store in midtown Manhattan in New York City. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Reuters

Target, the US retail corporation, said it pulled a controversial Halloween costume off its shelves after criticism across social media that it resembled a racist caricature.

The ad image for the costume, sold as the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,” depicted a Black child in a bright orange and black top with solid black gloves and a mask with a wide, toothy smile. Both the child’s pose and the costume’s gloves and mask were likened to caricatures of Black people used in minstrel shows.

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