Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - What did Mahatma Gandhi think of black people?

Very interesting historical revision here. I would have been very surprised if Gandhi, a high-born Brahmin had not held those views about Africans. Arthur de Gobineau, Hegel, Montesquieu and Churchill held worst views. I think we should not be judging the ethics and morals of people with the standards of our own epoch. Also, Gandhi went through several stages in his intellectual, moral, political and spiritual evolution. The Gandhi that left for England was different from the young proud Westernised barrister that tried to eke out a living in the South African Bar. And the traumas he encountered changed him. He was the same Brahmin who had a metanoia and renamed the low castes as "Harijan" (Children of God). We live in a cruel and sinful world. Every man and woman must carry their own cross. Gandhi carried his. He was not a perfect human being. But he sought a new way of capitalizing on the human spirit to fight injustice and oppression. MLK was an assiduous student of Gandhi and his adoption of AHIMSA made all the difference in the world. I went to college with the grand daughter of Gandhi, a mild-mannered young woman of beauty and grace. Her grandfather was not perfect, but because of the great efforts and sacrifices he made, the world of Humanity has been transformed by the sheer weight of his moral force. The challenge for us is to pick from the elements of what he did and apply it where we are at present. It can make a difference.

On Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 5:29 AM, 'Ikhide' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the revered leader of India's freedom movement, a racist?

A controversial new book  by two South African university professors  reveals shocking details about Gandhi's life in South Africa between 1893 and 1914, before he returned to India.

During his stay in South Africa, Gandhi routinely expressed "disdain for Africans," says S. Anand, founder of Navayana, the publisher of the book titled "The South African Gandhi: Stretcher-Bearer of Empire."

According to the book, Gandhi described black Africans  as "savage," "raw" and living a life of "indolence and nakedness," and he campaigned relentlessly to prove to the British rulers that the Indian community in South Africa was superior to native black Africans. The book combs through Gandhi's own writings during the period and government archives and paints a portrait that is at variance with how the world regards him today.

[The dark side of Winston Churchill no one should forget]

Much of the halo that surrounds Gandhi today is a result of clever repackaging, write the authors, Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, professors at the University of Johannesburg and the University of KwaZulu Natal.

"As we examined Gandhi's actions and contemporary writings during his South African stay, and compared these with what he wrote in his autobiography and 'Satyagraha in South Africa,' it was apparent that he indulged in some 'tidying up.' He was effectively rewriting his own history."

Prize-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy says the book, which will hit stores next month, is "a serious challenge to the way we have been taught to think about Gandhi."

Here is a sample of what Gandhi said about black South Africans:

* One of the first battles Gandhi fought after coming to South Africa was over the separate entrances for whites and blacks at the Durban post office. Gandhi objected that Indians were "classed with the natives of South Africa," who he called the kaffirs, and demanded a separate entrance for Indians.

- Rama Lakshmi

Nothing new here. Mahatma Gandhi was a thoroughgoing racist. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/03/what-did-mahatma-gandhi-think-of-black-people/?tid=sm_fb

- Ikhide

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.