Viola Davis has rejected Target’s apology over a children’s Halloween costume that was pulled from stores after drawing criticism for evoking racist blackface caricatures.
The Oscar-winning actor addressed Target directly in an Instagram post on Tuesday, sharing an image of the costume alongside historical minstrel imagery. “Target, I do not accept your apology and I do not believe that you understand the impact...the pain...the dehumanisation of the above,” she wrote.
“These images laid the foundation and the ideology for every atrocity that has been committed against my people.”
Davis ended her message: “We MATTER!! You have shown us that you are not on OUR side.”
The Independent has contacted Target for comment.
The costume, marketed as the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown” outfit, was sold by Target for $25. The listing was removed following the backlash.
The product showed a young Black boy wearing the costume – a black-and-orange chevron and argyle bodysuit, black gloves, and a hood with an exaggerated smile and small top hat.
The image led to criticism online because of its perceived resemblance to racist imagery associated with blackface minstrelsy, a form of 19th-century American entertainment in which white performers darkened their faces and used exaggerated features to caricature Black people.
Critics specifically pointed to the costume’s exaggerated mouth and the child’s pose as resembling historical minstrel imagery.
Target apologised on Monday and said the costume should never have been sold. “As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry,” the retailer said in a statement. “The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale.”
The company said it knew the incident was “especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners” and described removing the costume as “an important first step”.
The company said it was examining “how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again”.
Target did not publicly explain how the costume was approved nor did it identify the people responsible for its design and review.
For activists who have criticised Target’s retreat from DEI, the costume has become a new test of the company’s claim that it is committed to Black customers and employees.
Sheletta Brundidge, a Minneapolis-area business leader who protested the company’s DEI rollback, told Reuters: “You rolled back diversity, so who’s in the room, now, to say ‘hey, this is wrong?’”
Rev Jamal Bryant, who led a 40-day Target boycott last year, was more direct, telling the Washington Post that a costume evoking Jim Crow-era minstrel imagery “is not simply getting it wrong”.
He said the incident showed that Target “still lacks corporate diversity among decision-makers” and needed concrete internal changes.
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