Target faces renewed backlash for Halloween costume with 'minstrel show features'

The costume, along with a promotional image showing a Black child modeling it, drew widespread backlash online. Critics argued the design recalled the exaggerated caricatures that minstrel shows used to embed racial stereotypes into American popular culture and help justify segregation and racial violence.

"As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry," Target said in a statement. "The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale."

For anyone who shops the Target on Slide Road or the one near the South Plains Mall, this is a national story with a local shelf. The costume was part of Target's broader Halloween assortment, available at stores across Lubbock before the pullback. Parents shopping for kids' costumes this season won't find it there now.

Target has faced similar controversies before over products that passed through its supply chain and review process before critics flagged them publicly, raising questions about how a retailer with this much reach lets something like this get to the floor in the first place.