OF IDOLS AND CLAY FEET: WAS GHANDI RACIST?

Early in 2000, Nelson Mandela wrote an article about Ghandi in TIME magazine. It was highly laudatory. Said Mr. Mandela: “He dared to exhort nonviolence in a time when the violence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exploded on us; he exhorted morality when science, technology and the capitalist order had made it redundant; he replaced self-interest with group interest without minimizing the importance of self.”

The Wikipedia article on Ghandi says Nelson Mandela was inspired by him.

Martin Luther King was also influenced by Ghandi’s when he espoused non-violence.

These people are saints to many people, black and white. So is Ghandi.

Until fairly recently, I had no reason to question this. However, a few years ago, I read something about Ghandi’s racism towards black people in South Africa that I found deeply distressing. But I decided that it was just cyber-muckraking and ignored it.

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A couple of weeks ago, however, I mentioned this to someone who pointed to me to a number of online resources making the same claim, complete with quotations.

Ghandi went to South Africa in 1893, and stayed there till 1914. While there, he was subjected to racist behaviour from the dominant white South African establishment that convinced him to extend his intended year-long stay. Principally, he stayed to help the Indians in that country to challenge a bill that would have denied them the right to vote.

This is where the plot thickens. In fighting for Indian rights, he purportedly made a number of statements about blacks in that country, who were known as “Kaffirs”. Ghandi also called them Kaffirs. He even fought in the war the British waged on the Zulus. He held the rank of Sergeant-Major, it would seem, and encouraged the Brit to make use of the Indians as soldiers: “If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare”.

To return to the “Kaffirs”, there is a wealth of direct quotes from Ghandi’s works. A few are given below.

Ours is one continued struggle against degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the European, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.

It is one thing to register natives who would not work, and whom it is very difficult to find out if they absent themselves, but it is another thing -and most insulting -to expect decent, hard-working, and respectable Indians, whose only fault is that they work too much, to have themselves registered and carry with them registration badges.

Now let us turn our attention to another and entirely unrepresented community-the Indian. He is in striking contrast with the native. While the native has been of little benefit to the State, it owes its prosperity largely to the Indians. While native loafers abound on every side, that species of humanity is almost unknown among Indians here.

It seems that the petition is being widely circulated, and signatures are being taken of all coloured people in the three colonies named. The petition is non-Indian in character, although British Indians, being coloured people, are very largely affected by it. We consider that it was a wise policy on the part of the British Indians throughout South Africa, to have kept themselves apart and distinct from the other coloured communities in this country.

The quotes are taken from the Trinicenter.com website, but there are many more, for example in Raceandhistory.com and the Historical Revisionism website.

How does one deal with the fact of a genuine idol with very ,very genuine clay feet? The proof is incontrovertible that this man did not like black people. But he was one of the best things that ever happened to the Indian nation. So can black people consider Ghandi to be an inspiration in spite of what he manifestly thought of them? I think his attitude goes beyond a mere blind spot. Because of his stature, his condemnation of Africans is now used against them. Some people think that if a man such as he said the things about black people, then they must be true. This article, though offensive for many other reasons, is a case in point.

So was Ghandi racist? I’m afraid he was.

The lesson I draw from this is that we should beware of idolising people because, in the final analysis, we are all only human.

The other lesson is that we should  not just whine about racism; we should act. When a case comes up , we should mobilise and make the racist wish he'd never let the thought cross his mind.

Comments

[Thabo]

Gandhi was racist against the Blacks and Dalits. This is a fact.

[Olusanmi]

Mohandas Gandhi's racism is well-known fact and getting better known, thanks to the internet. That does not minimise his contribution to India and in developing the nonviolent method.

Gandhi got his inspiration for Civil Disobedience from Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau's work "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" is available as a free download many places on the web. Thoreau is not as well known as Gandhi, but for a 19th century white American, he was more principled about race than Gandhi. Among other positives, was adamantly against people owning people, although he did not take to arms to fight it, unlike his contemporary, John Brown.

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[Naneh]

The passages you quoted just showed that Ghandi thought blacks were lazy; and many still believe that today.
Just try and compare a black owned busines and an Indian owned business where ever both exist side by side; then you will realise the truth value of Ghandi's statements.
Blacks have got two things to do; work harder and be united.

[Ma Mary]

No, it is not about hard work or unity alone. Having spent time with Indian friends, as well as Jews, Bamilikes, Igbos and Kikuyus, all ethnic groups with strong entrepreneurial tendencies, I came to the conclusion that more than hard work and unity is an entrepreneurial culture. There is a region of China that is known for creating a lot of successful entrepreneurs. The difference with other Chinese is cultural.

Hard work and unity are part of the mix, but that culture, with its inbuilt success knowledge and supports is what makes the greatest difference.

[tanyah]

and wot businesses might they be...selling drugs and pimping/prostitution?? i mean be serious?!?! i have a lot of friends who are blacks and asians and from my experiences from both of these communities here in england is that most black people have no family structure and the men sleep around with loads of different women making loads of babies that they dont raise or play any part in their lives. black men give the impression that they hate babies/children and their own women thats why they f*** them and leave them.and although some blacks are more than happy to have a regular 9-5 job, asians on the other hand are so much more business minded and like to run their own businesses..clothes shops/jewellery/sweet shops..indian restaurants...taxi ranks etc etc. as for black unity..black people cant even stand each other hence the black on black violence, and hate their own so how they expect others to treat them when they hate themselves? most of the gun and knife related crimes in the uk are comitted by blacks on blacks. just a little something for all of you think about. and no im not asian. nor am i black.for some reason i dont think the author is goin to approve of my comment to allow it to be posted on the site. its ok. i know truth is hard to swallow sometimes. as for ghandi yeh he does seem a bit racist,considering what i read about him!

[Paaristha Oomadath]

I am a 29year old South African Indian, originating from Durban. I love my country and will give my life for South Africa any day. One of the proudest things I grew up with was having idols/heroes like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Biko, Sisulu, Makeba and my list goes on...
Like the author of the article, recently I discovered some facts about Gandhi that has made me change my mind, as much as I respect all he has done for the Indians, as a South African he has disrespected my fellow countrymen. You can never be an idol in my eyes when you have prejudice in your heart, something Gandhi had against my fellow black south africans, Yes, I might look like an Indian on the outside but inside; no one can take away the love, pride and dedication I have to south africans, be you black, white, zulu, indian, or whatever.
I am glad now that I know the truth and I am saddened and disappointed. And I am not torn between two world's, a racist has no place in my heart, no matter what.
Ms Paaristha Oomadath

oomadath79@hotmail.com

[Ma Mary]

Gandhi learned about Civil Disobedience from the Massachussets thinker and writer, Thoreau. Thoreau was also an abolishionist and believer in the equal rights of human beings. Gandhi added some tenets from the ascetic aspects of the Hindu religion, such as Ahimsa.Martin Luther King also learned from Gandhi and added ideas from the African American church to non violent civil disobedience. That is all good thing exchanged by important figures from different races.

Gandhi started his Indian rights (not human rights) career in South Africa because he, a British trained lawyer was tossed out of the first class carriage of train because he had brown skin.

When Gandhi returned to India, matured and fully developed his philosophy, it is hard to know whether he still entertained the same prejudices about Africans. That we will never know, but I admire and forgive people who grow. Did Gandhi grow? That is a mystery, and I wish he grew.

[Yiannos]

I think that it is easy to judge. It almost comes naturally... Yet, if in his younger years Ghandi had such vices, in my mind it is a greater vice to exhault any man to the realm of a god. So to my friends who grew up with Ghandi as an idol I would say he certainly is not a god, but a great soul. If only our day and age had more...