Marieha Hussain, who depicted Sunak and Braverman as coconuts, says only people who do not understand the term find it offensive
A teacher who was acquitted of a racially aggravated public order offence after she carried a placard depicting Rishi Sunak andat Westminster magistrates court last Friday, Marieha Hussain, 37, said there was a lack of cultural understanding and awareness of the term “coconut” and how it is used by diverse communities.
In particular, Hussain said those who found the term offensive did not understand it, adding: “It’s really not their term, it’s not their language,” she said. This was not the first time the term “coconut” has come before the courts in the UK. In 2009, a councillor was convicted of racial harassment for using the term to describe a councillor from a different party.
“I was trying to show that Sunak and Braverman hold the highest offices in our country, they’ve got so much power and influence,” Hussain said. “Calling ‘hate marches’, the Rwanda policy, the comments about Pakistani men. That fed into a really dangerous rhetoric that is actually untrue. When asked whether she would use a similar coconut placard again at a future pro-Palestine rally, Hussain said: “Yes. It’s political satire, it’s protected speech and I have absolutely no reason not to carry that placard around again.
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