Photos+Video-Boy, 4, covers face in white cream to make him white saying “I don’t want to be brown anymore”

A mother was left troubled after her son began hating his skin colour and decided to make himself become white.

Alison told BBC that her son Leon, 4, had told her he doesn’t want to be brown anymore but prefers to be white. He begged his mother to have his face sprayed white. Then, when he was at a friend’s house, he covered his face in white nappy cream to make himself white.

Alison’s friend took a picture of Leon covered in Sudocrem because she thought it was funny and she showed the picture to the boy’s mother. This bothered Alison so she had a conversation about identity with her son.

Alison told the BBC: “I was tucking him in one night and he asked me ‘mum can you spray my face white?’ I asked him ‘why would you want me to spray your face white?’, and he said, ‘well I don’t want to be brown anymore.’ ”

She explained to him that all the people who were closest to him were brown, telling him: “Mummy’s brown, daddy’s brown. Mainly all the people that you love, close people, are all brown.”

She has now given books to his school featuring black children because she wants all children to see themselves represented.

“If there’s ever another time when he speaks about wanting to be white I’m not going to blow up or overreact,” Alison said. “I’m going to sit down at eye level and say ‘come on, what you thinking, dude?’ ”

Video below.