GANDHI AND DISCRIMINATION

First of all, the film opens in 1893, a time when British colonial rule was at its height and influenced virtually all aspects of life in India.

In a very pivotal scene, Gandhi, while traveling in South Africa, is tossed off of a train for being a “kaffir” or a “non-Muslim African native” while seated in first-class accommodations aboard the train. At this point, Gandhi begins to understand that the laws within South Africa which at the time was also under British colonial rule, are extremely biased and discriminatory against not only his ethnic background (i.e., Indian) but also those of other persons who do not fit within society.

This could be compared to the experiences of many African-American citizens during the 1950's when they were forced to be segregated from white Americans, especially related to public transportation and the use of restrooms, washrooms and even having dinner in a restaurant, where blacks were often made to sit in separate rooms in order to be served.

Many state laws mandated that black Americans did not have the same rights as white Americans; thus, with Gandhi being thrown off the train in South Africa, the similarities are quite striking, especially since it is clear that the South African/British government discriminated against Gandhi simply because he was not a native Muslim of the country.

GANDHI'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

As the film progresses, Gandhi finds himself in a very strange situation, namely, that he has become in the eyes of most Indian nationals a true hero for his efforts to stop selective discrimination against his people in India.

It is interesting to note that Gandhi was born, raised and educated in England before he became immersed in the struggles of India to free itself from the control of the British Empire. At first, Gandhi is not sure how to respond to the discrimination, but he quickly decides to initiate a non-violent campaign against British rule by having millions of his fellow Indians participate in sit-down strikes and refusing to work or pay their taxes to the British government. This campaign succeeds far beyond his expectations, for in the end, after being imprisoned and treated with great disrespect by some of own people, the British government relinquishes and allows the nation of India to have its independence from the British Empire.

GANDHI, ROSA PARKS AND DR. KING

In many ways, this event is very similar to the success of the boycotts and sit-ins by black Americans in 1957 which persuaded President Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress to create new legislation that would guarantee the same rights and privileges to black Americans as compared to their white counterparts, particularly in the Deep South, where racial discrimination was rampant and affected the lives of all African-Americans in very negative ways.

Also, the character of Gandhi can be compared to that of Mrs. Rosa Parks. In December 1955, African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama organized a bus boycott after Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. As a human being, Rosa Parks refused to be discriminated against simply because she was black and obviously found it very distressing that the laws in Alabama mandated that black passengers on public buses must give up their seats to white passengers.

Interestingly, the man who initiated this and other boycotts in the Deep South was Martin Luther King, Jr., who within a short period of time (much like Gandhi) gained national prominence for his non-violent protests against discrimination and segregation by invoking Christian morality, American ideals of liberty and the ethics of non-violent resistance begun by Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle against British colonial rule.

Much like Gandhi is portrayed in Attenborough's magnificent film, King lived to see his greatest triumph in the 1950's with the Supreme Court decision known as Gayle v. Browder, that effectively overturned the laws that enforced bus segregation in the city of Montgomery. Of course, in 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by a disgruntled Muslim. Dr. King was also assassinated on April 4, 1968, almost forty years to the day of the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Undoubtedly, director Richard Attenborough clearly had the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and early 1960's in mind when he decided to produce "Gandhi," due to many similarities between the film and the Civil Rights Movement, a fact which shows that the struggle for racial and ethnic rights and freedom is not confined to the U.S. and that regardless of where they are from, people must be free from tyranny and discrimination.