A Target Halloween costume for children was pulled from stores on Aug. 24 after people online pointed out that the design of the orange-and-black clown costume with a mesh black face covering evoked images of minstrel shows from the Jim Crow era. And instead of doing some soul-searching, the company’s response made the situation worse.

It’s the kind of thing that should have never made it through approval, much less made it all the way to production and promotion, where it was modeled by a Black child whose face is obscured by an exaggerated, painted-on grin. 

Then came the company’s response, which only made things worse. The short statement said it's no longer selling the costume, but stopped short of offering any meaningful explanation of how this got past designers, or how Target would seek to avoid causing further harm.

“Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this........

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