Gandhi showed Adivasis the same disdain he showed Black Africans

Evidence

In his search for primitive communism, S.A. Dange would have been better advised to look towards indigenous Adivasi communities rather than towards the ancient Vedic Brahmins and their yagnyas. Gandhi too could have done the same. If anybody was even remotely living out his ideal of frugal village life, of stepping lightly on the earth, it was not the Vedic Hindus, it was the Adivasis. For them, however, Gandhi showed the same level of disdain that he did for Black Africans. Speaking in 1896 at a public meeting in Bombay, he said: “The Santhals of Assam will be as useless in South Africa as the natives of that country.” — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 360

Categorization

• XREF: Directly complicates the popular image of Gandhi; connects to reader’s interest in the political genealogies of caste critique in India. — connects to: Gandhi’s South African activism opposed equal treatment with Black Africans, not segregation itself.; Gandhi described African and Chinese prisoners as wild and immoral; Gandhi consistently insulted Untouchables and denied them political self-organization (+2 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 360

Broader Connections

• Gandhi consistently insulted Untouchables and denied them political self-organization #corroborates (0.70)
• Ambedkar excluded Adivasis from proportional representation because they lacked developed political sense #expands (0.55) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 367