Target stops selling product with Civil Rights icons after TikTok shows errors

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Target says it will stop selling a product dedicated to civil rights icons after a now-viral TikTok exposed some major flaws.

In a video posted earlier this week, Las Vegas high school teacher Tierra Espy showed how three civil rights icons — Carter G. Woodson, WEB DuBois and Booker T. Washington — were misidentified in the magnetic learning activity.

“These need to be taken off the shelves immediately,” Espy, who uses the TikTok handle @issatete, said in her Tuesday video. “I teach American history… and I noticed some discrepancies as soon as I opened this.”

In a Friday interview with The Associated Press, Espy explained that she purchased the Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Activity in late January, hoping to give it to her children. But when she opened the product at home, she quickly discovered the serious flaws and shared them online.

Shortly afterwards, Target confirmed it would stop selling the product.

“We will no longer sell this product in stores or online,” Minneapolis-based Target said in a statement. “We have also made sure that the publisher of the product is aware of the errors.”

Target did not immediately indicate how long the product would be on sale, or a timeline for when the removal would be complete. The product removal comes at the start of Black History Month, which Target and other retailers are commemorating with special collections aimed at celebrating Black history.

The erroneous magnetic activity in Espy’s video has a Bendon production label. The Ohio-based children’s publisher did not immediately respond to requests for statements on Friday.

On Friday, Espy said Target and Bendon had not yet contacted her. While she said she was happy the product had been pulled from shelves, she also said she was disappointed there had been no apology from the companies yet.

In addition to an apology, Espy said the incident underlines the importance of reviewing products before making them available to consumers – which in the long run would help prevent harmful mistakes like these.

“Google is free, and it’s like I noticed it in two seconds. They could have found it out just by doing a quick Google search,” she said.

Espy added that she appreciated the support from other TikTok users, who ensured the mistakes did not go unnoticed.

“I’m glad people are realizing that the history, the period, matters,” she said.