"Coconut" Incorrect

I must confess that this one gave me a bit of a laugh. Apparently "coconut" is now a term of abuse. I live and learn. My enlightenment came from the uproar (see here) about an American black calling a Caribbean black a "dumb coconut who probably don't have a green card." I may have got it wrong and it was not the coconut part that was offensive but who knows for sure about these things? I think it is clear however that we should all be careful not to call ANYBODY a coconut from now on.

I am a bit careless about keeping my hair at any given length so when I suddenly conclude that it is too long and get it cut back to a good old-fashioned "short back and sides", it tends to come as a bit of a shock to people who know me and people who don't like the result not uncommonly tell me that I look like a coconut! That bothers me not the slightest, of course. They are probably right. But from now on I will sadly have to tell them to watch their words.

Update:

Aha! Now I get it: A coconut is brown on the outside and white on the inside