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A lone shopper enters a Target store on January 11 in Lakewood, Colorado.
David Zalubowski/AP
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David Zalubowski/AP
A lone shopper enters a Target store on January 11 in Lakewood, Colorado.
David Zalubowski/AP
Target says it pulled a book from its Black History Month collection after a customer noticed it mislabeled three prominent civil rights icons.
in a video posted on TikTokHigh school American history teacher Issa Tete says she purchased the “Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Kit” to share with her students in honor of the holiday.
However, when opening the book, discovered several discrepancies: Product incorrectly labels three civil rights icons: American sociologist and historian WEB Du Bois; author and educator Booker T. Washington; and historian and journalist Carter G. Woodson.
The Du Bois image was tagged Woodson, Woodson was tagged Washington, and Washington was tagged Du Bois.
“I get it, mistakes happen,” Tete said in the now-viral video. “But this needs to be fixed ASAP…I don’t know who’s in charge at Target, but these need to be taken off the shelves immediately.”
Since it was posted on social media on Tuesday, the video has been viewed more than 850,000 times.
“I wasn’t going to let that go for my 200 students and I wasn’t going to let that go for my two babies who I’m responsible (for) teaching,” she said in a follow-up video posted Thursday.
Bendon Publishing, the book’s publisher, did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.
In a statement to NPR, Target said the company will no longer sell the product in its stores or online, and that it notified Bendon of the errors.
February marks Black History Month, a tradition that began in the Jim Crow era and was officially recognized in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebrations.
Beginning in 1926, Woodson, the scholar often referred to as the “father of black history,” established Negro History Week to focus attention on the contributions of black people to civilization.
The month-long commemoration aims to honor the contributions African Americans have made and recognize their sacrifices.
Black History Month is celebrated in the United States and Canada every February, while in October it is celebrated in the United Kingdom.