The child, who has not been named, is understood to have been out riding his bike with a friend in the eastern Ontario village of Russell, Canada, when they passed two white boys their age—one of who allegedly called the boy the N-word.

When the boy’s friend told the other children to stop calling him names, it is alleged the white boys attacked the Black boy, with one of them hitting him in the leg with a scooter while the other jumped on his arm, breaking it in two places.

The injured child’s mother says the attack on September 22 left her son terrified.

Speaking to the news channel CBC, she said: “My son is traumatized. He doesn’t sleep.

“He keeps reliving the moment when this boy broke his arm.

“I want to talk about this because I want to open the community’s eyes that these things are happening.”

The mother said she was also upset with the way Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) handled the incident.

She claimed that police were slow to respond and when they did four hours later they were dismissive.

She also claims an officer told her it was not a crime to call someone the N-word.

Police spokesperson Bill Dickson told the news channel that officers responded to what he called a “fight” between two groups of youths.

He said: “We are aware that the incident did allegedly start over a racial slur, but we can’t speculate on a lot of the other details.”

He added that although there was an investigation, no-one involved would face charges as Canadian law prevents the prosecution of children under the age of 12.

The mayor of Russell, Peter Leroux, took to Facebook to condemn the incident.

In an open letter to residents, he said: “As a father and mayor, I’m saddened to write this statement.

“This past week, a young Black 10-year-old boy in the village of Russell was assaulted by others of his age, simply because of the color of his skin.

“This young boy received awful anti-black sentiments and had his arm broken in two places. This is unacceptable.

“Some will say this is one incident and does not reflect who we are as a community.

“Although we may not experience these ourselves, such acts do happen to our family, friends and neighbours.

“Our community needs to talk about this act of violence. As a community we must do better. We must be willing to confront racism and bullying in all its forms.

“It takes a village to raise a child and the children in our area depend on our community to make their future better.

“I encourage you to speak to your children and to your loved ones. We will not repeat the past. We must confront the harsh reality in our community.

“Let us lead through example, compassion and the understanding that we are all equal.”