Deborah Harrell wrote: > > You mean, the people from India with brown skin > > colour? I think > > they were lumped with the whites, among the Aryans. > > In South Africa I think they were called > "colored"...didn't this influence Gandhi, IIRC?
Yes. He spent 21 years in South Africa and started forming his theories of Satyagraha in South Africa itself. He was thrown out of railway carriage because of his skin colour and that was, approximately, the moment he stopped worrying about his law practice and started thinking in terms of freedom, satyagraha, non-cooperation. His first Satyagraha was organised in SA in 1907 and 7 years after that, the SA govt had agreed to his proposals for the alleviation of anti-Indian discrimination. He arrived in India in 1915 and started working for India's freedom. Which reminds me, Gautam has sometimes stated on-list that Gandhi's advent postponed the Indian Independence. These days I have some time to spare, so we could debate that idea now Gautam, if you are interested. :) > Different ethnic group, but in the US Southwest, > brown-skinned Mexicans were (and still are, in some > eyes) considered 'inferior.' >:/ People are weird. You wouldn't believe how important 'fair' skin is here in India - the matrimonials inevitably mention it, there are creams and lotions which claim to make you fairer in 14 days, the description of beauty usually starts with the word 'gori' [fair again]..... And these are the people who aren't even 'white' to begin with! Hmm, I'll stop before I really get started. *g* Ritu GCU Borrowed Prejudices And Adopted Soapboxes _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
