Given that this person is being prosecuted for holding up this billboard in public, perhaps the newspaper is erring on the side of caution by not reprinting it!
He said the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning” to the effect that “you may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor – you’re less brown or black than you should be.”
That’s a different definition of ‘coconut’ than I hear here in NZ. Here it’s usually just a (derogatory) term for any Pacific Islander, because they come from where coconuts come from.
And they crop the billboard out in the photo so we can’t decide for ourselves how bad it is.
Given that this person is being prosecuted for holding up this billboard in public, perhaps the newspaper is erring on the side of caution by not reprinting it!
I’d say there’s a very good chance you’re right.
It’s like calling a black person an oreo. It’s a racial slur, full stop.
From article:
That’s a different definition of ‘coconut’ than I hear here in NZ. Here it’s usually just a (derogatory) term for any Pacific Islander, because they come from where coconuts come from.
Gotta love slang/slurs.
Oh definitely. I wanted to see the cartoon depiction though.