White boy asks for same haircut as black friend so teacher 'won't be able to tell them apart'

'If this isn’t proof hate and prejudice is something taught, I don’t know what is'

Jax, left, and Reddy smile after Jax got a haircut similar to his friend's (AP)

It's a story of schoolyard friendship which, according to the mother of one of the children involved, provides proof that racial discrimination is only taught in later life.

According to a Facebook post that has been shared widely in the US, a five-year-old white boy asked to be given the same haircut as his black friend in the belief their school teacher would not be able to tell them apart.

Jax Rosebush, from Kentucky, asked his mother to shave his hair short so he could look like his friend Reddy Weldon.

“He said he couldn’t wait to go to school on Monday with his hair like Reddy’s so that his teacher wouldn’t be able to tell them apart,” Lydia Rosebush, Jax’s mother said in a post on Facebook.

“He thought it would be so hilarious to confuse his teacher with the same haircut.”

‘…If this isn’t proof that hate and prejudice is something that is taught I don’t know what is. The only difference Jax sees in the two of them is their hair,’ she added.

The post has currently received more than 152,000 likes and has been shared nearly 82,000 times.

Local news station WAVE-TV followed Jax to his haircut, and the cameras were rolling as he and Reddy giggled while Jax had his hair shaved off.

In the video, Reddy said: "Jax's me ... and I'm Jax."