{"id":130757,"date":"2024-09-19T18:12:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T22:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=130757"},"modified":"2024-09-26T11:53:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T15:53:19","slug":"mahatma-gandhi-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mahatma-gandhi-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahatma Gandhi: South Africa Put Him on a Path to Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How did Mahatma Gandhi’s journey as a civil rights leader begin in South Africa? What steered him toward a fight against discrimination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Mahatma Gandhi, South Africa offered a transformative experience. He encountered racism firsthand and became an advocate for Indian rights. His time there laid the foundation for his later work in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to discover how Gandhi’s South African years molded him into the leader we remember today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Image source: Wikipedi<\/a>a<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Mahatma Gandhi, South Africa wasn’t part of the career plan. In his autobiography, he relates that he passed his law school exams in London on June 10, 1891, and he was on a ship back home to India by the 12th. Back in India, Gandhi didn\u2019t have much success as a lawyer. He was shy and felt uncomfortable charging his clients for his work. His brother, who\u2019d paid for his education, worried that Gandhi couldn\u2019t contribute to the family\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Some of the traits that became part of Gandhi\u2019s leadership style also made it difficult for him to practice law. As he shares in his autobiography, he was so shy that his first court appearance was a disaster because he couldn\u2019t get a single word out in front of the judge. But he transformed that shyness into soft power<\/a> as he came into his own as a leader. He also had revolutionary views about the legal profession, even by today\u2019s standards: Elsewhere, he wrote that lawyers and doctors should receive a salary from the government<\/a> instead of charging fees to their clients or patients. He believed that would ensure everyone received quality legal and medical services, regardless of how much they could afford.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid these worries, Gandhi received a job offer in South Africa from one of his brother\u2019s wealthy business partners. The job was to provide legal counsel to an Indian-owned company. The offer was enticing: It paid well and offered the chance to leave India and have new experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his excitement for this new adventure, Gandhi says he was sad to say goodbye to his wife once again, especially as they\u2019d welcomed their second baby since his return from England. So, when he set off to South Africa in April 1893, he was filled with both excitement and sadness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Gandhi\u2019s choice to move to South Africa without his wife and children was an example of him putting his career\u2014whether as a lawyer or as a public leader\u2014before his family. Gandhi\u2019s biographers found that his two eldest sons had a difficult relationship with him<\/a>, even becoming estranged at one point, as a result of the way Gandhi prioritized his pursuit of Truth and justice over being an involved father and husband.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiencing Racism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi\u2019s experience in South Africa was eye-opening. He experienced racism as an immigrant of color in a European colony. He narrates several noteworthy experiences, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n