burn coal

• burn the coal

First use appears c. 1946. See cite below.

burn coal (third-person singular simple present burns coal, present participle burning coal, simple past and past participle burned coal or burnt coal)

1. (slang, derogatory, offensive) Of a nonblack person, usually a woman, to seek sexual relationships with black people, usually men.
   • 1946, Esquire‎^[1], volume 25, page 158:

     "Not for you, nigger," she spat at him. "When I left you I was through burning coal."

2. (literally) To burn coal, usually for heat.

• “burn coal v.” under “coal n.¹”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present