Mom Ida Lockett told Sacramento’s local CBS station that the instructions for the set showed how to shackle one of the dark-skinned toy people, who happens to be wearing tattered clothing and a metal collar and is shoeless.
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“He was excited when he got it”, the mother explained to CBS Sacramento. When she was helping him assemble it, she noticed the instructions told her to put a play shackle around the figure’s neck.
She said: “You can not have this specific accessory and call it anything else”.
A Playmobil toy which seems to be wearing a slave collar has sparked outrage.
As CBS2’s Matt Kozar reported, the box contains a miniature metal collar, and the instructions say it’s supposed to go around a black passenger’s neck. Do you think the Playmobil pirate ship toy is offensive and racist?
“It’s definitely racist,” she said.
Lockett says she’s returning the toy back to Toys “R” Us. News in a statement that the toy set was made to have historical context, and was not meant to offend anyone.
Lockett said after putting together the ship she realized what her son was playing with.
“WOW. Would it be too much to ask for you to just create a regular old black pirate?”
“Newsflash, Playmobil: this is the 21st century”.
Toys R Us could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Ms Norman added: “#Slavery.is.not.a.game”.
Sacramento NAACP President Stephen Webb has similar feelings, and says that his organization is demanding action.
Aimee Norman, the young boy’s aunt, wrote a message to Playmobil on their Facebook page about her recent purchase.
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“This is deplorable. This can not be accepted, and it needs to be pulled off the shelf”, he told the outlet.
