Target Drops Black History Month Product That Misidentified 3 Black Historical Figures
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A magnetic activity kit sold at Target as part of its Black History Month collection incorrectly labeled three Black historical figures, as reported first by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
A TikToker’s viral video brought attention to errors in the product, Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Kit, in which it mixed up historian and writer Carter G. Woodson, as well as rivaling Black intellectuals W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. In response to the outrage, Target stopped selling the product in-store and online, the retailer told TIME in an email on Saturday.
In the kit, an image of Du Bois was incorrectly labeled as Woodson, while Woodson was improperly identified as Washington and Washington as DuBois.
“I don’t know who’s in charge of Target, but these need to be pulled off the shelves, like, immediately,” the TikToker, identified as history teacher Tierra Espy by CNN, said in the viral video on Tuesday. “I get it, mistakes happen, but this needs to be corrected ASAP.”
The manufacturer that made the kit, Bendon Publishing, also sells their products at stores other than Target, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Costco, Walmart, and more. Bendon Publishing and Target, respectively, did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
“We will no longer be selling this product in stores or online. We’ve also ensured the product’s publisher is aware of the errors,” Target told multiple outlets.
This isn’t the first time historical Black figures have been misidentified.
The Wall Street Journal last year used the incorrect picture of a Black female gymnast in an article about Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles.
In 2021, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mixed up black baseball players Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.
