Was Gandhi racist towards black people?
It’s hard to believe but the answer is an emphatic yes. Couple of things to point everyone in the right direction. #1 – Don’t let the emotion of who you believe Gandhi to be to get in the way of actual facts. #2 – Gandhi was a Hindu. Hindus believe in the caste system which states that individuals are born into castes and this is where they live and die. #3 – Gandhi’s early struggle in south Africa was predicated on the idea that Europeans should treat Indians better than they did because the Indians were better than Blacks #4 – Gandhi has many published quotes where he refers to South African Blacks as lazy and aimless. #5 – His views softened somewhat as he grew older but his campaign of non-violence was for the equal treatment of Indians, not Blacks. #6 – Just because he employed the amazing strategy of non-violence doesn’t mean he advocated for everyone. #7 – Just because everyone employed his techniques of non-violence doesn’t mean he approved of them, after all most who used his
He certainly was earlier in his life in South Africa, from Wiki: On 7 March 1908, Gandhi wrote in the Indian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: “Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised – the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals.” Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: “We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do… We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race.” During his time in South Africa, Gandhi protested repeatedly about the social classification of blacks with Indians, who he described as “undoubtedly infinitely superior to the Kaffirs” I would assume that his thoughts on black people changed with time. But I haven’t researched for evidence of that.
