Parents remove black child over monkey casting

Does the role of a monkey in a primary school play have racist overtones? That's the question being raised at a school in Bristol after parents removed their seven-year-old son from the play when he was cast as the animal in question.

Myles Rees was one of five children cast as monkeys in the school play, he and one other boy are black, the other three pupils are white. The choice of role was left to the child in question.

Myles' mother made an official complaint to the school, claiming that; ' Everyone is aware of the racist connotations of asking a black pupil to play a monkey.' The school in return said that ' In our experience, most children aged six or seven would usually be unaware of racial implications when choosing to play animal parts in a school play.'

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