Target has removed a collection of educational magnets from its stores that misidentified three Black leaders, after a high school history teacher called attention to the errors in a TikTok video.
In the videoThe teacher, Tierra Espy, said she purchased the “Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Activity,” a tin box containing 26 magnets and information cards featuring illustrations of black leaders and movement slogans of civil rights, for Black History Month, celebrated in 2017. in the United States in February.
“I noticed some discrepancies, as soon as I opened this,” she said in the video, noting that a magnet labeled Carter G. Woodson, a scholar of African American history, represented in says WEB DuBois, the American intellectual and civilian. human rights leader who wrote the essay collection “The Souls of Black Folk.”
“Look at the mustache,” she said, referring to an Internet photo of DuBois with the same mustache as the character on the magnet mislabeled as Woodson. “They got the name wrong.”
She also pointed to a magnet mislabeled as DuBois. He actually represented Booker T. Washington, the reform educator who led the founding of the college that became Tuskegee University. Likewise, a magnet labeled Washington actually represented Woodson, she said.
Ms. Espy said the accompanying cards also misidentified Woodson, DuBois and Washington.
“I understand, mistakes happen, but this needs to be corrected as soon as possible,” Ms Espy said in the video.
In an interview Saturday, Ms. Espy, 26, who teaches 11th grade U.S. history at Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas, said she bought the box of magnets for her children, aged 4 and 6 years, as an educational tool for blacks. History Month.
Ms Espy said she was alarmed to discover the errors.
“I was upset because I was wondering how could this reach so many people, so many levels, and put it in stores, and I grabbed it in 10 seconds?” she says. “Whoa, that’s not good.”
Bendon Editionswhich produces sticker books, dress-up dolls and other magnetic kits, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but as of Saturday, the magnetic kit was not listed among its titles on the company’s website. company and on the Amazon page.
Target said in a statement that it would no longer sell the kit online or in its stores, and that it had “ensured that the product publisher was aware of the errors.”
Black scholars have launched a project to share and celebrate Black history in the early 20th century, after Reconstruction.
Black History Month began as Negro History and Literature Week, led by Dr. Woodson, known as the “Father of Negro History,” in 1924. It was officially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976.
