Somebody called Ashley Cole a "choc ice" on Twitter over the weekend after the footballer testified in defence of John Terry.

A choc ice, like the term coconut, is usually meant as an accusation that someone is betraying their racial loyalties by being only black on the outside., but England's former captain Rio Ferdinand, who is himself black, defended its use.

Ekow Eshun, a former director of the ICA who now writes about culture, believes it is a "slightly odd and archaic term" as it dates back to a time when black people "worried much more about their place in society" as there were fewer black people in prominent positions.

"It's sad to see words like this still in usage," he told the Today programme.

Novelist Diran Adebayo says the term doesn't bother him and he believes it is still fair for some black people "to feel there has to be a word for people to feel somebody else... has less ethnic loyalty".

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