Racist Toys

So, Playmobile has a new pirate playset.

One of the figures included is apparently an African, has a collar around it's neck. There is a "dungeon" below decks.


Playmobil's Toy Racist?


Here's my thought.

Is the idea of racism being utilized a pleasant one? No.
Is it part of history? Yes.
Did it happen on Pirate ships? Yes.
Should everyone over-react the way this woman has? No.

I see it as a potential discussion point with children. Discussing not only what's "right" and "wrong", but the fact that yes, these things did happen historically.


Erasing history is not the way to handle it.

a reply to: nullafides

It's a toy and one you can help teach the wrongs of the past to kids.
I see no problem with it.

Now my Gollywog when I was a kid now that was racist but I loved my Golly .



My neighbor who is black collects them now.

a reply to: boymonkey74

The only real problem I see is our overtly PC society.

There quite simply is no such thing as thick skin anymore.

The only way we're ever going to get past it is to stop twitching like we've struck a nerve every time something like this happens. If they had put a white/yellow figure in that role, someone would have simply been offended at the implications of slavery in the toy like they were upset over slave Leia.

a reply to: nullafides

Playmobil toys are the best. They are amazingly engineered. And they are painstakingly inclusive, diverse, and PC-friendly.

So I guess I DGAF.

a reply to: boymonkey74
You may have to explain what a Golliwog is to Americans. Few of us know what one is, or anything about its history. I happen to have a British aunt who gave me one, or I wouldn't know either. Hint for Americans: Think Black Minstrels

a reply to: Klassified

Robinsons jam also had him as a mascot.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Klassified

Robinsons jam also had him as a mascot.

I didn't know about that, but sure enough...

a reply to: nullafides

Yes some toys are inherently racist. I remember just yesterday
when Barbie and Ken marched into the Sudentenland,
omg, and how could I ever forget when my Ninja turtles
tried to round up all my green army men into camps, this
is a really serious problem in our society, like in no way
comparable to the 6th civil war that has been raging
in the Congo since the nineties and the hundreds of thousand dead
, those rape happy murders
don't even compare to the destruction i've seen
when Gi-Joe's arm falls off. The horror, the horror.

Why are we trying to keep racism alive? Won't the kids grow up to forget it ever happen thus completing Martin Luther King's dream? Nah lets crush it and discuss every wrong this toy is.

Whatever happen to:
"It was in the past, let's focus on now and tomorrow"?

Nah £uck that.

It's in bad taste dunno if it will teach anything.

But, hey remove any and everything that appears to be connotative of racism, even if maybe in this case it can teach something of the past! /s

a reply to: nullafides

Seriously?? No, these toys are not racist. We bought a LOT of Playmobile stuff, when my older son was little, because we were in Germany, and it was way cheaper. Plus, they have some awesomely cool sets! Castles and pirates were what he wanted. These figures come with props, that can move from one figure to another; totally interchangeable. The below decks area I recall is just space, not a "dungeon". Its a hold, and sure, you can stick a figure in there, if you want, but racist?

Not even close. This woman totally overreacted. That's no more racist than eye patches and peg legs on white figures is racist.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: nullafides

It's a toy and one you can help teach the wrongs of the past to kids.
I see no problem with it.

Now my Gollywog when I was a kid now that was racist but I loved my Golly

.

My neighbor who is black collects them now.

Man...I guess things are different in the UK.
Then again, you never had a huge African slave trade. Wow. I'm surprised the doll doesn't come with a slice of watermelon and a piece of fried chicken.

a reply to: DelegateZero88

We had Action man with eagle eyes, me and my bro makes rules of war with our toys and a battle could last days and the losers action man had a finger cut off.
Yes we tortured toys as children....

a reply to: the owlbear

The golly came from an Enid Blyton book.

a reply to: boymonkey74

I loved my gollywog so much, he was grey from over-washing. With little eyes like polos. He's still up North at my mum's house. I think I'll go dig him out and give him a new lease of life.


eta: Mine was smooth though, not with a full head of hair like yours.

originally posted by: nullafides
So, Playmobile has a new pirate playset.
One of the figures included is apparently an African, has a collar around it's neck.

If it's meant to be a pirate ship, the "slave" figure is historically out of place anyway.
Piracy and slave-trading would have been different occupations, carried out by different ships.
The necessity of chasing merchant shipping would have been a distraction for a slaver, the necessity of following the slave-trading routes would have been a distraction to a pirate.
The slave figure belongs in a completely different "slave-trading playset", if they think it's appropriate to make one.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Well, the little guy COULD be an escaped slave that joined a pirate outfit.

But, he just couldn't get his slave collar off?

They could fix it all, PC wise, by encouraging the kiddies to "free the slave", by taking OFF his slave collar, instead of instructing them to put it on.

a reply to: windword
My childhood collection of Airfix toy soldiers included a set of Germans.
They always lost, of course.
I wonder if that was racist.

a reply to: DISRAELI

During my childhood, we played "Cowboys and Indians". There couldn't have been a more racist American pastime than ""Cowboys and Indians", and tasteless "Spaghetti Westerns".