[Vision2020] Gandhi in South Africa

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

Dear Visionaries:

This is the third column in a series that I'm writing on my recent trip to Southern Africa.  I've attached the full version. I'm indebted to a recent book that puts Churchill and Gandhi in parallel perspective.

You can read chapters from my book on Gandhi at www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/vnv.htm

Nick Gier

NOT YET THE MAHATMA: GANDHI IN SOUTH AFRICA

Even those who know Gandhi's work well sometimes forget that Gandhi spent 22 years in South Africa.  On the occasion of his 140th birthday on October 2 and my recent visit to South Africa, I would like to offer a few reflections on those critical years in Gandhi's development as a nonviolent political activist.

After three years in London studying law, Gandhi's first court appearance in Bombay was a disaster: he was tongue-tied and dizzy. He just barely made a  living doing legal work that did not require going to court.

Gandhi's legal career was saved by an invitation from Indian Muslim merchants in Durban, South Africa.  Just as was finishing up his one-year contract with them, he learned that the Indians in Natal province were just about to lose their right to vote.  

Gandhi decided to stay on to take up the Indian cause. He was shocked that, as citizens of the British Empire, Indians in South Africa did not have the same rights as whites. Drawing on the great linguistic discoveries of the day, Gandhi was able to argue that Indians and Europeans were Aryans, sharing the same ethnic stock and speaking closely related Indo-European languages.

The Boer War offered an opportunity for Gandhi to prove that the Indians were just as tough and courageous as any European. Barred from combat because they were a "non-fighting race," Gandhi organized 1,100 of his compatriots as the Indian Ambulance Corps.  

At the battle of Spion Kop, at which young journalist Winston Churchill praised the great effort of the "strong races" (Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis), Gandhi's men carried hundreds of wounded soldiers 25 miles over rough terrain.  

Gandhi's litter bearers were the only hope that wounded black Africans had in the battles (14,000 were killed), and many years later under apartheid it was illegal for white ambulance drivers to transport blacks.  Nevertheless, Gandhi's campaign for civil rights never included the blacks or the coloreds, those of mixed ethnic background.

Gandhi's speeches contain language that can only be characterized as racist. As Gandhi complained: "A general belief seems to prevail that Indians are little better than the savages of Africa, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw kaffir."  "Kaffir" has the same connotation as our "N" word. 

Gandhi argued that the British Empire thrives on commerce and that the Indian trader was just as good a businessman as any Englishman.  In stark contrast, Gandhi thought that black Africans led lives of "sloth, indolence, and superstition," unless they came under the instruction of Christian missionaries.

It was Gandhi's hope that his loyal service to the British Crown would convince the government that the Indians deserved equal rights. The British, however, did not budge on the Indian electoral franchise and discriminatory registration, but Gandhi did convince the government to repeal an ill advised bill that would have nullified Hindu and Muslim marriages.

Although sympathetic to their plight, Gandhi did not turn to the Indian indentured workers until late in his South African career. Working for pennies a day, these people did not have anything to lose.  Gandhi was able to organize 50,000 men for strikes in the mines and an impressive 2,000-strong worker march on Pretoria. The government finally relented and appealed a very onerous poll tax on the laborers.  

Mahatma translates as "great soul" and such persons would include all humanity in their vision of world peace and harmony. Mahatma Gandhi never accepted the title, but when he returned to India in 1915, with lessons well learned from South Africa, he was able to unite Indians at all levels of society as he led them to national independence.


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