After Target pulls racist costume, boycott leaders demand more than an apology

Target boycott leaders took their demands to the retailer’s headquarters after the company pulled a children’s Halloween costume that evoked racist blackface and minstrel imagery. Photo: Becca Gilbuena

Leaders of the National Target Boycott gathered outside Target’s Minneapolis headquarters Friday, demanding answers about how a racially offensive children’s Halloween costume passed through the retailer’s internal review process and was offered for sale.

Target removed the costume after Black consumers and others criticized the imagery which evoked the racist history of blackface and minstrel shows. The company apologized and said the costume should never have been sold.

For boycott organizers, however, removing the product does not answer how it was approved. National Target Boycott co-founders Nekima Levy Armstrong, Monique Cullars-Doty and Jaylani Hussein are calling on Target to disclose who reviewed and approved the costume, what safeguards failed and who was involved in the decision-making.

“A product does not magically appear on the website of a multibillion-dollar corporation. People review it. People approve it. People make decisions about how it will be marketed and sold,” said Levy Armstrong, an attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network.

“If Target genuinely wants to understand how this happened, then it needs to be willing to ask much harder questions about corporate culture, representation and accountability. Who is in the room? Who has authority? Whose lived experience informs decisions? And who has the power to recognize and stop harm before Black consumers have to point it out publicly?”

The organizers also expressed broader concerns about Target’s retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January 2025, which came days after President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting DEI practices in the private sector.

“Target spent years cultivating the loyalty of Black consumers and presenting itself as a corporation that valued diversity, racial equity and inclusion. Then, at a critical political moment, Target chose retreat,” Levy Armstrong said.

The National Target Boycott launched Feb. 1, 2025, in response to Target’s changes to its DEI commitments. Organizers have called the boycott indefinite and urged consumers to redirect their spending to Black-owned businesses and companies they believe demonstrate meaningful commitments to their communities.

The racist costume was part of Target’s Hyde & EEK! Boutique Halloween line. The orange-and-black outfit included black gloves and a dark face covering featuring an exaggerated smiling mouth. Photo: Target website

Armstrong said the costume controversy illustrates why the company’s corporate culture needs to change.

“Target doesn’t just need new leadership. Target needs a cultural shift. That means racial and cultural competency, meaningful representation, accountability and people with the authority to speak up before harm occurs — not after Black consumers are forced to call it out publicly.”

Cullars-Doty, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, said Black consumers should not have to identify harmful products after they reach the market.

“Black people should not have to repeatedly experience harm and then wait for corporations to get caught before they decide something has crossed the line,” she said. “We are tired of apologies after the damage is done. We need accountability, restoration and meaningful change.”

Hussein, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, said consumers can use their economic power to pressure Target.

“Target wants consumers to look at each controversy separately — another mistake, another apology, another promise to do better,” Hussein said. “But communities have every right to look at the entire record.”

Target has said it is examining how the costume became part of its assortment. Boycott organizers say the review must address more than one product.

“At some point, we have to stop calling everything a ‘mistake,’” Armstrong said. “When disrespect becomes a pattern, believe the pattern.”

The boycott founders are also demanding a public accounting of Target’s $2.1 billion pledge and institutional commitments to the Black community following the 2020 Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, as well as measurable, sustained investment in Black communities.