The French government has firmly rebuked scores of 'racist' comments left on an education ministry Facebook post which shows a back-to-school scene with mostly non-white children. The image has elicited a furious online debate.

It’s a seemingly innocent enough photo: eight healthy, well-dressed and cute kids stand in a row at school in a Facebook posting with information for parents anxious over the start of the new school year.

But the image, which shows a majority of black children and one clearly visible white child sparked a flood of racist comments - as well as an avalanche of anti-racist responses.

The tone of many of the 1,000-plus comments - not including those deleted by the government - became so harsh the Ministry of Education stepped in and denounced the “abusive and racist” character of some threads.

“This page is a place of positive and constructive dialogue about school and is not a political forum,” the ministry said.

Among the mountain of comments that have accumulated in the post since it went up on Thursday were those from Facebook user Mike Plusultra who tapped into the fear that France is being overrun by immigrants.

“I don’t think this photo is very representative of French schools: What the heck is the white kid still doing there? Oh, I just heard he’s from Kosovo. The future of France, the replacement of the population is well underway,” he said.

[Bolding mine; Facebook link in the original]