Mahatma Gandhi was born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bagu, he was the leading figure in India's struggle to gain independence from its oppressor Great Britain. He was admire and loved for his nonviolent philosophy passive resistance. He began his activism as an immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s.
While in South Africa Gandhi was fighting discrimination against his fellow Indians, but not the native Africans. He had a strong dislike for the native Africans. He often called them "Kaffirs" which was a local racial slur that would be equivalent to the N-word, Coon, Sambo, etc.
"A general belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians seems to prevail in the than the savages or natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir."
Mahatma Gandhi
Reference: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Government of India (CWMG) Vol 1, p.150
"Only a degree removed from the animal. Kaffir are as a rule uncivilized the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals." Mahatma Gandhi
Reference: CWMG Vol VIII, pp. 135-136 March 7, 1908
Toni's Thoughts: I never really cared about Gandhi anyway and I wonder if Martin Luther King Jr., ever knew if this is how Gandhi felt about Black people or people of African descent. I say this because Dr. King said he admired Gandhi and followed his philosophy. I believe that Gandhi was no different from the arrogant and greedy people of Great Britain that assumed that they were better than the native Africans of South Africa and took over their country and enforced discrimination as well as racial segregation. His comment about the natives is rude and stupid. It was their country they had the right to be there it was their home.
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