A protest against the Gandhi statue at the Coahoma County Courthouse was held on March 25 along with a lawsuit filed to remove the whitewashed image of Gandhi from the grounds.
Gandhi is most recognized for his nonviolent resistance to the British and for guiding India to freedom more than 75 years ago. Gandhi is venerated worldwide, however, he was a bigot against Black Africans. Gandhi referred to Black South Africans as “kaffirs” in his works — an extremely insulting racial epithet. Additionally, he said that Indians were “infinitely superior” to African-Americans. Gandhi demonstrated that actions speak louder than words by playing a critical role in sustaining apartheid in South Africa. “As an Africanist, we must constantly consider the person’s relationship to us as Africans. And suppose you look at Gandhi’s entire life. In that case, you see consistency in terms of being pro-Indo-Aryan, and he himself described himself as an anti-Black, whether in South Africa against the Zulus or in India against the Dalits — India’s Black Untouchables,” said Dr. bádélé Kambon, professor of African Studies at the University of Ghana.
Cheryl Rene Moses of Atlanta led the protest with a video pointing to what she claims was Gandhi’s stance in his early years in Africa against Blacks. Moses led a similar protest to remove a Gandhi statue in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Nanak S. Bhatti, a resident of Clarksdale, filed suit in Coahoma County Circuit Court to see the statue removed because it was unlawfully erected. The complaint alleges that Sheriff Charles Jones and the Coahoma County Board of Supervisors acted outside the legal authority of their respective offices in erecting the statue. Additionally, there was no public debate and the placement of the statue did not follow local and state laws for public facilities.
The complaint also says the public is not aware of Gandhi’s stance on race and racial issues in India and Africa. The bronze bust of Gandhi was unveiled in October by city and county leaders. Local and state economic development leaders also took part in the event.
Gandhi is often called the George Washington of India, a country that celebrated its 75 birthday of independence in 2021. The bust of Mahatma Gandhi was presented in a ceremony attended by more than 200 people last fall with the Atlanta Consul General of India Dr. Swati Kulkarni, Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami and PeopleShores CEO Murali Vullaganti hosting the event.
The protesters anticipated that the Mississippi Now, Black Gwinette Magazine, Quanell X from the New Black Panther Nation, and Second Chance Initiative would be speaking at the event. However, one protester said that once he gave Quanell X, the New Black Panther Nation Leader a large amount of funds, he received nothing but false promises and excuses. Quanell X never showed up or presented a spokesman for the event.
Will a lawsuit be filed in Houston next?
In recent years, Houston has become a first for many things, including a $12 million Gandhi Museum thats being erected at the cost of taxpayers in a mostly black lower class neighborhood. Prior to the museum, a Gandhi statue was placed in Hermann Park. Houston even named a district after him. But when will community leaders and elected officials speak up and stop promoting a whitewashed version of Gandhi?
This is a large part in why Sylvester Turner kept getting elected as mayor of Houston, white liberals, racist hispanics & buck dancing sambozos who can’t tell someone is robbing them from the left while looking at their right.This museum is being built in a black community, not a white one, says Donald Smither from The Callie House Project.