Doesn Gandhis youth excuse his racism?
Many people argue that Gandhi was “young and naive” during his anti-black activism. There are three problems with this argument: First, Gandhi was 45 when he left South Africa for good. Considering the 2008 life expectancy in South Africa for males is 49, Gandhi could not reasonably be considered “young” while in his 30’s and mid-40’s in early-20th century South Africa. Second, Gandhi’s racism continued until his death. He was in his 50’s when he covered up the racially motivated murder of William Doherty by Gandhians, in his 60’s when he fasted to deny fair political representation to the Dalit, and in his 70’s when he wrote letters defending Hitler and condemned the Jews for not surrendering to the Holocaust. Third, Gandhi received an elitist education at University College London, which is often ranked in the top 20 universities in the world. He also spearheaded the South African campaigns for Indian civil rights and claims personal exposure to racism. All these points indicate that
