King’s College London professor accused of using ‘racial slur’ against Lebanese academic

An associate professor of security studies at King’s College London (KCL) is currently involved in a racial debate, after being accused of using the term “coconut” to describe a Lebanese academic.

Dr Andreas Krieg has been an associate Professor at King’s for nine years and specialises in the politics surrounding the Middle East and North Africa.

Krieg had written an article claiming that the United Arab Emirates was no longer a serious player in the Middle East due to the war in Iran, arguing that “the problem is the belief that middle-power activism can erase small state-vulnerability.”

Mr Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, responded to Krieg’s claims on social media platform X, writing a “white man tells Emiratis what they should do.”

This subsequently caused Krieg to respond, saying: “Coconut man tells brown men how to be a white man.”

The term “coconut” can be used in multiple forms, but it can be a slur implying that an individual is brown on the outside, but has become white on the inside, meaning they have abandoned the beliefs and cultural norms of their home country in favour of Western culture.

King’s College London

This term has been previously used as a racial slur. In 2010, a black councillor in Bristol was found guilty of harassment for using it when identifying an Asian opponent.

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More recently, in 2024, a teacher, who depicted Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak as coconuts, was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.

Dr Krieg has since spoken out surrounding the controversy, explaining his response was based off “a sustained pattern of ad holmium attacks from [Abdul-Hussain] on me and on other Muslims… he reached for the race card to discredit me as a white man.”

He added: “Coconut: this is contested language… it functions as satirical political critique… this register is part of the political vocabulary of my household, not a weapon against it.”

A spokesperson for King’s College London said: “We are aware of a comment shared by an academic associated with King’s on an independent social media account. We are taking this extremely seriously and looking into it as a matter of urgency.

King’s is committed to creating an inclusive, respectful and safe environment for every member of our community and we expect those associated with our University to do the same. We absolutely do not tolerate racism, hate speech, or prejudice.”

Dr Andreas Krieg, Hussain Abdul-Hussain, and The Foundation for Defence of Democracies have been contacted for comment.

Featured image via Instagram @drandreaskrieg and Unsplash