Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1955-04-23
India 49,.
Continued from Page One,

of the pigment of his skin.
g But there is what some de-
scribe as color curiosity" and
others as "color prejudice" which
makes many Indians conscious of
differences and shades of color,
even among themselves.
Segregation OF Sexes
3. Most Indian families, close
knit and solf-contained, do not
easily accept strangers into their
midst whether their skin is white,
brown or black, and this accounts
for some of the feeling of "loneli-
ness" experienced by African stu
dents here.
This feeling of loneliness is in
creased by the strict segregation of
the sexes which is normal in In
dian colleges. Girl students do not
go out with African boys, but then
neither do they go out with In
dian boys. Indian Christian girls
are generally more free but the
chances of marriage for Hindu
Or Moslem girl would be seriously
curtailed if she were seen alone
in the company of man even for
! so harmless an adventure as a trip
| to the movies.
System Based On Caste
The whole question of color in
India is bound up with the COM
plicated social system of the coun-
try, based on caste which is only
slowly being broken down under
the combined pressure of legisla-
ton and social opinion.
The caste system itself was
originally based on color. The
Sanskrit word for caste, "Varna,'
means simply "color," and the caste
system was probably the imposi-
ton of light-skinned Aryan in
vaders upon the dark skinned
aboriginals.
Although the color distinctions
within India have largely vanished
as the result of centuries of inter
marriage, it is still noticeable in
some parts Of the country that
the "untouchables" and members
of lower castles are often darker
skinned than the Brahmins and
upper castles. The preference for
fair skin is often also brought
out in marriage advertisements
where it is stipulated that the
bride should be "wheat-complex.
ioned."
Some idea of the diversity OF
views on the color question can be
gagged from extracts from letters
to the papers and public state
ments.
Isolation Charge Denied
One Indian student wrote deny.
ing there was any social isolation
of Africans and stressing that at
st. Xavier's College, Bombay, one
of the three African students there
had twice been elected by popular
vote as president of the hostel
common room and had also been
elected 'best hostellite of the
year."
Two students wrote to suggest
that African students did not like
being referred to as Negroes
which they regarded as indecorous
or even derogatory, but preferred
to be described as Africans.
N. j. Wadia, vice-chancellor of
Bombay University, declared that
he had never had a single COM
plant from any of the 80 African
students in Bombay that they had
been Disseminated against by any
of their fellow students.
The president of the Overseas
Students Association in Poona, A.
M. Mamujee, denied that Indians
were inhospitable and suggested
that Africans suffer from a sort
Of inferiority complex which is the
result of the treatment meted out
to them in their own country and
therefore, psychologically, they are
liable to exaggerate every small
incident to establish that a color
bar exists in India"
Bore Hospitality Goal
This brought an immediate reply
from African students from Ken
va, Gold Coast, Uganda, Rhodesia,
and Nyasaland who were study