A California mom is furious after she says her 5-year-old son's birthday gift came with a 'racist' toy along with 'slave instructions.'
Ida Lockett's son received a Playmobil pirate play set and says that the instructions inside the box say to chain a dark-skinned character who appears to be a slave.
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Lockett tells CBS Sacramento that the toy set came with a neck piece and that the instructions illustrated to place the shackle on one of the dark-skinned toys who was wearing tattered clothes and no shoes.
"You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else," Lockett tells the station. "The fact that you can Google it, look it up, say what it is -- it's a slave collar."
Lockett says the toy pirate ship also comes with a dungeon for slaves. She posted her complaint to the Playmobil USA Facebook page: 'So sad to find a slave ship by Playmobil.'
Playmobil responded to the criticism stating that the toy set was meant to represent ship life in the 17th-century and that the toy in question is a member of the crew...not a captive.
"The figure was meant to represent a pirate who was a former slave in a historical context. It was not our intention to offend anyone in anyway."
The Playmobil Pirate Ship remains on sale on the Toys R Us website.
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