Boy, 8, scratched lines into his skin to ‘look whiter’ after being repeatedly called the ‘N-word’ at school – The Sun
AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy scratched lines into his arms to 'look whiter' after he was repeatedly called the 'N-word' at school.
Finley Sullivan also admits he would go days without moisturising his skin so it would get dry and "appear lighter".
His mum Colleen Robinson said the racist abuse became so bad her son would go outside and stare at the floor in fear of being abused.
The lad, from Par, Cornwall, was born was born in Kettering, Northants., with his dad born in Uganda and his mum in Dover, Kent.
His dad left Uganda when he was 20 during the Amin regime, fleeing to nearby Rwanda.
He managed to escape the 1994 genocide – which saw between 500,000-one million people slaughtered – and was able to settle in the UK with help from the Red Cross.
Little Finley said: "People say the N-word and that I should go back to Africa where I belong.
"The first time it happened I was in year one. A kid called me a stupid African and hit me.
"Sometimes I feel sad and angry. I stopped moisturising so my skin would go dry and dusty and I'd look lighter for school.
"I scratched white lines into my skin, too, to try and look whiter.
"People stare at me and touch my hair without asking too. It just makes me feel sad and angry."
'THERE'S LITTLE DIVERSITY'
His devastated mum says the abuse goes beyond the playground.
She said: "I had a new-born in a pram. I told the kids to keep walking, that the men were making noises because mummy looks silly.
"Fin said, 'I know they were making the noises at me because I look like a monkey'.
"It seems Brexit has given everyone an excuse to bring out their worst side.
"We want to leave but my husband has a business down here so it isn't as easy as that.
"One boy who is 13 has been prosecuted. I went to his mum and told her I was going to the police and she said that she was glad because he's out of control.
"I'm just sick of people not evolving. It's like going back in time."
Colleen wants more black history to be taught in Cornish schools to try and combat racial intolerance.
She added: "There's very little racial diversity here so it's like you've got to hide away and get on with it.
"We're hoping by speaking out that others who are the victims of racial abuse down here will stand up and know they're not alone."
Finley hasn't let the years of abuse hold him back.
He recently started learning to play the ukulele in hopes of one day hosting a music festival promoting racial diversity in Cornwall.
He said: "I like being mixed race. It's when people are racist to me I don't like it, it makes me feel I don't fit in."
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