Target Withdraws Black History Item for Misidentifying Civil Rights Leaders

An educational children’s magnetic activity book featuring Black Civil Rights figures has been pulled from Target stores after a high school history teacher from Las Vegas identified and pointed out a number of blunders and made a TikTok video about it, which has now gone viral, according to CNN.

The history teacher Tierra Espy said she spotted that three leading Black icons in U.S. history — Carter G. Woodson, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington — were misidentified in the product as soon as she opened it last Monday. 

The names and images of Carter G. Woodson, a pioneer in African-American history; W.E.B. Du Bois, a renowned sociologist, historian, author, and activist; and Booker T. Washington, an educator and intellectual who was the first president of what is currently known as Tuskegee University, were all mixed up in the activity book.

Espy said, “As soon as I saw the mistake I’m like, ‘Oh no, I can’t put this up.” She said in the video, which has gotten 1.3 million views so far, “These need to be pulled off the shelf.”

@issatete

Idk who needs to correct it but it needs to be pulled off the shelves nontheless. Any person could have missed the mistake but it just takes one person to point it out and ask for corrections #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #blacktiktok

♬ original sound – Issa tete

Bendon is the name of the company that makes these activity books, toys, and craft kits. Target was one amongst other retailers, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Dollar General, to have partnered with them on this product, according to the Bendon website.

On Friday, Target said in a statement it “will no longer be selling this product in stores or online. We’ve also ensured the product’s publisher is aware of the errors.”

Getting the identities of Black people and any other people of color mixed up can fall into the category of a racial offense by indicating that all non-white people look alike. This has been used as a form of discrimination to dehumanize people of color.

Espy said she hasn’t heard from Target or Bendon, but she has received plenty of backing from social media and her high school students. According to The Wall Street Journal, she said, “They were really happy about it. It’s hard to get people to care about history, so this has been amazing.”

Espy explained that the Civil Rights leaders book was stocked in Target stores in the Dollar Spot section, with a clear display at the front of the store where most products are between $1 to $5. Placed between other educational books, the magnetic book was readily available for Black History Month.

Speaking to CNN, Espy said, “They’re expecting us not to notice the mistakes, and it’s heartbreaking as somebody who knows the mistakes and has seen it.”

Espy hasn’t heard anything from Target or the bookmaker, however, she said the retailer did the right thing with its swift reaction to quickly remove it from store shelves.

She said, “I’m a teacher. If you don’t know something, I can’t blame you for what you don’t know. [But if] I give you the information to correct it, then it’s your responsibility.”