A California boy's fifth birthday gift has sparked outrage after his mother discovered that one of the play set's characters seems to be depicting a shackled slave.
Ida Lockett of Sacramento said she was horrified to discover that a dark-skinned, shoeless character included in the Playmobil Pirates Ship play set came with a shackle, which was instructed to be placed around his neck.
"You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else," Lockett told CBS Sacramento. "The fact that you can Google it, look it up, say what it is—it’s a slave collar."
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Does he really know the history!!
Posted by Ida Ida on Sunday, October 4, 2015
The boy's aunt, Aimee Norman, wrote in a post on Playmobil's Facebook page that she gifted her nephew the play set because it was the only one she could find from the company with a black character, but didn't realize the character was depicted as a slave.
"Newsflash, Playmobil: this is the 21st century," Norman wrote. "People of African descent have contributed to mankind in a myriad of ways that existed outside of the disgusting institution of the slave trade. Selling children's toys that are suggestive of slavery in play is obscene, even moreso [sic] given the marked absence of diversity in your entire toy line."
Since Lockett called attention to the play set, people have taken to Playmobil's Facebook and Twitter profiles to express their opinions about the toy.
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Yes slavery is a deplorable part of history that must be taught. However preschoolers do not need to role play as a...
Posted by Desta Sirrine on Thursday, October 8, 2015
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME..... how could this even leave the development stage. I will NEVER buy my grandchildren ANYTHING associated with your company. How can you even justify it?....YOU CAN'T !!!
Posted by Susan Griffiths-Olson on Thursday, October 8, 2015
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you make great toys but you have always had a racism problem. We scoured the catalouge a few years back and omly found...
Posted by Kellen Hel Kiernan on Thursday, October 8, 2015
Lockett said she plans to return the play set to Toys R Us, where it was purchased, and will request that the retailer remove the product from its shelves.
"I'm going to ask to speak to the manager and ask them not to support this particular product," Lockett said.
Toys R Us has not commented on the play set, while Playmobil, a German company whose products are sold in North America and Europe, issued several tweets confirming that the character is meant to be a "former slave."
@Molly_Horan ...and, as shown on the box, is now a member of the crew. We did not mean to offend anyone. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/5JUp94yAt6
— PLAYMOBIL (@playmobil) October 8, 2015
The play set, which retails for $89.99 full price, is still available on both the Toys R Us and Playmobil websites, where the character can be seen in several photos with the shackle around its neck.