Toy company accidentally makes racist toy, tries to excuse it because of "historical context".

“It told my son to put a slave cuff around the black character’s neck, and then to play with the toy.”

A mother was furious after spending the weekend putting together her five-year-old’s new toy only to discover that the pirate ship came complete with slaves.

Ida Lockett complained to Playmobil, the company responsible for the set, on discovering that it contained a dark-skinned figurine with no shoes, tattered pants and a neck piece that appears to be a slave collar.

If there was any doubt, the toy was accompanied by a set of instructions explaining how to fit the accessory around its neck.

“It’s definitely racist,” Lockett told local CBS TV. “It told my son to put a slave cuff around the black character’s neck, and then to play with the toy.”

“You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else,” she said.

“The fact that you can Google it, look it up, say what it is – it’s a slave collar.”

Lockett posted an image of the offending item on Facebook, describing the ship as a “slave ship”.

After the post caused a furore on social, Playmobil responded with a non-apology, defending the toy for its historical accuracy — apparently it was intended to portray life on a 17th-century pirate ship.

In a statement to the Washington Post, the company said: “If you look at the box, you can see that the pirate figure is clearly a crew member on the pirate ship and 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.”

Aimee Norman, the unfortunate auntie who gifted ship to her nephew said she was mortified for picking it out.

She also left a note on the Playmobil Facebook page, reminding the company that four centuries has passed and slavery was not a game.

“Would it be too much to ask for you to just create a regular old black pirate?”

“Newsflash, Playmobil: this is the 21st century. 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 given the marked absence of diversity in your entire toy line.”

Norman added: “Can’t get this away from my nephew and back to the store fast enough.”

Lockett also shared a series of photos of her son playing with his new toy. They weren’t pretty: