Police asked professor of African-American studies for help in the “Coconut” case before he himself began investigating the “House N*gro” case

A leading black professor was asked to help police in the case of a British Asian woman accused of a hate crime over a satirical poster, months before he was drawn into his own criminal investigation, The Independent can betray.

Professor Kehinde Andrews, Britain's first professor of Black Studies, is being investigated by West Midlands Police over a video in which he referred to right-wing commentator Calvin Robinson as a “House N*gro”. We uncovered the case on Monday.

As it turns out, the 41-year-old academic was asked by the Metropolitan Police in April to provide his expertise to a Crown Prosecution Service investigation into whether Marieha Hussain should be charged over her “Coconuts” sign.

Ms Hussain, 37, was arrested in April on charges of racially motivated public disorder for carrying a placard depicting former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman as coconuts during a demonstration.

Activists say their protest is a legitimate way to criticise right-wing politicians. Terms such as “coconut” and “cum” are used as insults in black and Asian communities to describe other people from minority communities who are perceived to be sympathetic to racist agendas – implying that the person is brown on the outside but Eurocentric on the inside.

“It shows the absurdity of all cases,” said Prof. Andrews The Independent.

“One point I'm an expert the police can contact on racist language, the next I'm being called out for a video in which I provide the same expertise.

“Not to mention that I used coconuts in this video and directly addressed several people and was not arrested for it.

“They just switched to the term 'house n*gro'. That's completely ridiculous.”

Although Prof Andrews declined to attend, he advised the Crown Prosecution Service and police to drop their investigations into Ms Hussain. However, she was charged in May and her trial, expected to last two days, is currently taking place at Westminster Magistrates Court.

During the first day of testimony in Ms Hussain's case on Thursday, Metropolitan Police Assistant Detective Sergeant Shrenick Shah told the court he had approached Prof Andrews because he was “one of the few people who would be able to comment on the use of the word coconut” while “the use of the word is a subject of public debate”.

Mr Shah explained that he came across Prof Andrews during a Google search and noticed the academic's position as Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University.

In the email from Mr Shah to Prof Andrews dated 9 April, which was received by The Independent, He said: 'Hello Mr Andrews, I am contacting you as I am investigating an individual who was displaying coconuts in what is considered a racially motivated public disorder.

“As part of the prosecutor's review, I have been asked to obtain expert testimony on the use of the term 'coconut' as a racist slur, and I hope you can help me provide a response.”

After a brief phone call between the two men that day in which the professor declined to participate in the review, he sent a follow-up email saying: “Following our brief conversation today, I would like to explain why the use of 'coconut' is not a racial slur and therefore this matter should not be treated as a racially motivated disorder.

“I hope you will report this to the CPS so that no further police or criminal justice time is wasted on this matter.”

The email stated: “Racist slurs are inextricably linked to a person's 'race' and are intended to demean that person solely on the basis of the colour of their skin, (…)

“Coconut is a political critique that emerged from anti-racist and decolonial struggles. The most famous work is Franz Fanon’s Black skin, white maskwhich explains how black and brown people must reject their different cultures in order to succeed in white society because of racist education and society.”

The academic also warned the Metropolitan Police officer that Ms Hussain's case did not reflect well on her, given the police's well-documented problems with the black and Asian population.

“The police already have a terrible history and relationship with black and brown communities due to their excessive police presence and harassment,” Professor Andrews wrote in his email.

“The filing of such charges only exacerbates tensions between communities and police. If the police and courts are truly interested in repairing the damage and having credibility with racially discriminated communities, then such investigations and charges must be stopped immediately.”

“It is frankly astonishing that the police are pursuing such cases after the alleged findings from the BLM summer of 2020.”

This is due to growing criticism that the British police and CPS lack the necessary knowledge and cultural competence to effectively address issues of race and language within the community.

The CPS and Metropolitan Police were approached for comment. West Midlands Police declined to comment.