25 ઑગસ્ટ, 2026

Target apologizes for a costume that — accidentally? — looks like blackface.

You decide. It's the "Kids’ Glows under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume Bodysuit":

I'll do a poll:

More background:

62 ટિપ્પણીઓ:

Iman કહ્યું...

“Oh… Teh Hugh Manatee!”

Andre કહ્યું...

Sho-nuff!

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

Really Target? Really? You got rid of the little trannies-in-training tuckable pampers and next thing you know you've got kid's smiling-sambo costumes for halloween. Suburban moms demand answers! Bring back tuckable pampers forthwith!

Oso Negro કહ્યું...

Unless my eyes deceive me, that’s a wee negro lad in that costume. What is he supposed to do to avoid “blackface”?

n.n કહ્યું...

I thought it was a cockroach. Then the light was turned on and it scurried into a back... black hole... whore h/t NAACP. Abort, sequester, and progress no more.

Jamie કહ્યું...

Oso Negro is right - the child is Black. The issue is the use of that particular model, not the (super creepy) costume. Who picked the model, and why?

tim maguire કહ્યું...

Apart from the fact that I reject absolutely that there is anything wrong with blackface, our society has made itself stupid over fake cries of racism. This reminds me of the photo a few years ago of miners grimy after a day in the mines that hung on a wall in a bar. Some dirtbag critical studies major saw it and cried

Known Unknown કહ્યું...

Would putting this costume on a non-black child have the same effect? Probably not, but it is a weird-ass costume nonetheless.

tim maguire કહ્યું...

Nerts. They cried "Racism!"

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2019/01/28/downtown-phoenix-photo-men-soot-blackface/2683881002/

Jamie કહ્યું...

(In this context, I decided to capitalize Black, because surely the casting people at Target would.)

Jamie કહ્યું...

I haven't heard "nerts" in probably forty or more years!

Peachy+2 કહ્યું...

The kid in the ad is black.

Is this offensive to the white left?

Peachy+2 કહ્યું...

Oso - you beat me to it.

The white left are insane.

Peachy+2 કહ્યું...

... the white left are the real racists.

n.n કહ્યું...
આ ટિપ્પણી લેખક દ્વારા દૂર કરવામાં આવી છે.
Hugh કહ્યું...

I don’t think that this was done intentionally, but this is a weird costume. I expect that they used a black model to meet DEI goals, and it would be interesting to see the picture and the reaction if the model were white (or Asian for that matter). Option #4 is too strongly worded for me, but Target and its supplier did screw up, in a way that could/should have been foreseen. But when you have tens of thousands of products mistakes are made.

n.n કહ્યું...

Duh! Doh! DEI: color judgments, class bigotry, is a double-edged scalpel.

tim maguire કહ્યું...

**Jamie said...I haven't heard "nerts" in probably forty or more years!**

Did your ear hear Major Burns as you read it? (Mine did as I typed it.)

Peachy+2 કહ્યું...

why is a weird costume? It's a clown costume... Blending traditional orange and black colors of Halloween.

n.n કહ્યું...

A darker shade of brown cannot help their black face. #NoJudgment #NoLabels

Onyx, now that's black... uh, black-black. h/t Whoopi And not African, sometimes, often.

n.n કહ્યું...

* nerts *

The N-word. Also, nerds, and sometimes geeks... the g-word.

Peachy+2 કહ્યું...

I mentioned before the Police and Fire-fighter Halloween costumes available at a local Costco. They are not flying off the rack. I suspect that even if a kid wanted to dress up like daddy - the parents understand the danger for the child.
Crazy leftists would probably HARM the child.

bagoh20 કહ્યું...

I don't have enough experience with blackface to comment.

n.n કહ્યું...

Target is on target - no abortive ideation implied - for first, a top surgery, a lobotomy, then a bottom surgery, in the wallet.

bagoh20 કહ્યું...

"Who picked the model, and why?"

Someone was trying to be inclusive. That'll teach 'em.

n.n કહ્યું...

Mmm... candy corn. Get in my belly! h/t Fat Bastard

tommyesq કહ્યું...

Cheshire cat?

Wince કહ્યું...

What about that dude scaring women with the Chucky mask?

Wilbur કહ્યું...

"Hyde and EEK! Boutique collection" made me chuckle, so there's that.

As long as there are people who profit from finding and calling out what they term to be racist, this nonsense will go on. If Target had publicly said it's only racist in your fevered mind, they probably would sell a lot of them.

hombre કહ્યું...

Important race baiting from CNN. BFD!

n.n કહ્યું...

I'm thinking of women in teenie, weenie, candy corn bikinis 👙. Sweet.

Wilbur કહ્યું...

Hugh said...
I don’t think that this was done intentionally, but this is a weird Target and its supplier did screw up, in a way that could/should have been foreseen. But when you have tens of thousands of products mistakes are made.

Original Mike કહ્યું...

The kid is black. This is just people wanting to be offended. What's new?

Wilbur કહ્યું...

Sorry, meant to add that they should have foreseen this and avoided it as you say. Mistakes happen. Sometimes heads roll.

Joe Bar કહ્યું...

If the kid was white, no one would have noticed.

Earnest Prole કહ્યું...

The miniature plug hat and exaggerated teeth and lips were a staple of minstrelsy. The costume was likely created for an Asian audience. You can get a sense of the lingering Asian fascination with blackface by googling ‘Darkie toothpaste’ and following its transformation to ‘Darlie toothpaste.’

Kevin કહ્યું...
આ ટિપ્પણી લેખક દ્વારા દૂર કરવામાં આવી છે.
Kevin કહ્યું...

Unless my eyes deceive me, that’s a wee negro lad in that costume.

We're now apologizing for things people **thought** they saw.

Fred Drinkwater કહ્યું...

I think Prole has the answer.

Iman કહ્યું...

Had to be made in China.

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

"If the kid was white, no one would have noticed."

Nope. They would've complained a black child model wasn't chosen, and then they would complain about the correction.

Jupiter કહ્યું...

I think you've all got it wrong. It says that the costume includes a "mesh face mask". If you look closely at the enlarged image, you can see that the huge orange lips are on a mesh or veil, that covers the face, and darkens it. The kid **could** be black, but I doubt it. So it really is a white person with an artificially darkened face, and Target thought it best to just let Negroes be Negroes. Apologize, move on. Negroes gonna Negro, right?

Jupiter કહ્યું...

Send a check to Ben Crump, and maybe one to Al Sharpton too. They's Black Leaders! They lead Blacks.

Jupiter કહ્યું...

That's RAY-CISSS!

chuck કહ્યું...

If that came to the door, my first take would be "WTF".

Known Unknown કહ્યું...

Did anyone ask the kid what he thought of it?

Lazarus કહ્યું...

In the upper picture it's hard to see the face. It looks like some sort of dinosaur face. In the picture from The Griot, the face is clearly that of a black child. Maybe they don't want kids to clown around on Halloween, but this sounds like much ado about nothing.

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

"Mom and dad say the check cleared. They said I like it just fine."

Lem Vibe Bandit કહ્યું...

Minorities are the majority of people in American advertising online/offline print, television, magazines, billboards. If it’s an advertisement chances are it will feature a face of a black/brown person of color, as AOC might say to describe the people in question.

So, when it came to selling a costume, nobody gave it a second thought because it was a black/brown person of color wearing a costume for sale. Had the model been a white/light skin person, it would’ve been an obvious problem.
I think in this case the problem is in the eye of the problematic beholder.

Smilin' Jack કહ્યું...

Obviously it’s intended for black kids. They are allowed to use blackface, just like the n-word. The store just has make sure they don’t sell one to white people.

BarrySanders20 કહ્યું...

There are many straight-up minstrel costumes. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=minstrel+costume&channelId=500&clpRedir=Y&plpRedirect=mhFallback

It's this particular non-minstrel costume that is masquerading as a clown that has caused the hubbub. I say it is nobody else's business if the clown chooses to identify as a blackfaced minstrel.

stutefish કહ્યું...

My hypothesis is that it was done on purpose, by a DEI-emboldened marketing firm that wanted to sabotage their client Target. The pose, the lips, the choice of model... all too coincidental to not be intentional.

Jim at કહ્યું...

Target steps on another rake? Fine by me.

Leora કહ્યું...

I'm old enough to have seen Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong do a minstrel act number on a network broadcast variety show. At the time it was progress. I can't see the problem.

Josephbleau કહ્યું...

It’s the hat that makes it work.

Eric કહ્યું...

Do you have a "Where are the editors?" tag? It could get used pretty often

Mason G કહ્યું...

"prompted a backlash on social media, with some consumers saying it resembled a racist caricature."

Racists see racism? Say it ain't so!

Leland કહ્યું...

I see a young black model that lost a job.

Ralph L કહ્યું...

It looks a bit like a Harlequin costume from Commedia dell'arte but in Halloween colors.

loudogblog કહ્યું...
આ ટિપ્પણી લેખક દ્વારા દૂર કરવામાં આવી છે.
loudogblog કહ્યું...

Yes, it looks like a person in blackface performing in a minstrel show. No, I don't think that it was intentional. In 2026, not a lot of people actually know what a minstrel show performer would look like. (Their whole experience of what a minstrel show looks like probably comes from the film, White Christmas.) I wonder if they might have been using AI to do the layout and proofreading of the ads. The thing about AI is that it follows directions. So if it's not specifically told to flag something because it looks like a performer in a minstrel show, it won't care about that aspect of a picture.

Bunkypotatohead કહ્યું...

Anyone young enough to wear that costume would not have any idea what "Jim crow" was, or ever meant. The boomers who get riled up about this shit really need to die off.

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