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Throughout his life, Winston Churchill made numerous controversial statements on race, which some writers have described as racist. It is furthermore suggested that his personal views influenced important decisions he made throughout his political career, particularly relating to the British Empire, of which he was a staunch advocate and defender. In the 21st century, his views on race and empire became among the most discussed aspects of his legacy. Some academics, such as Kehinde Andrews, go so far as to suggest Churchill was "the perfect embodiment of white supremacy", while others like historian Andrew Roberts, say that Churchill could certainly be accused of paternalism, but not race-hatred. Views of Churchill towards race According to historians John Charmley wrote that Churchill viewed British domination around the globe, such as the British Empire, as a natural consequence of social Darwinism. Charmley argued that similar to many of Churchill's contemporaries, he held a hierarchical perspective on race, believing white Protestant Christians to be at the top of this hierarchy, and white Catholics beneath them, while Indians were higher on this hierarchy than black Africans. According to Richard Toye, Churchill's perspectives were not singular, and while Churchill may have harboured the belief in the superiority of white individuals, it does not necessarily imply an endorsement of inhumane treatment towards non-white individuals. Paul Addison says Churchill saw British imperialism as a form of altruism that benefited its subject peoples because "by conquering and dominating other peoples, the British were also elevating and protecting them". To Churchill, the idea of dismantling the Empire by transferring power to its subject peoples was anathema – especially manifested in his opposition to the Government of India Act 1935 and his acerbic comments about Mahatma Gandhi, whom he called "a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir". Some critics have equated Churchill's imperialism with racialism, but Addison among others has argued that it is misleading to describe him as a racist in any modern context because the term as used now bears "many connotations which were alien to Churchill". Other sources Churchill advocated against native self-rule in Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, the Americas and India, believing that the British Empire promoted and maintained the welfare of those who lived in the colonies; he insisted that "our responsibility to the native races remains a real one". In 1899, a Boer jailer asked Churchill: "is it right that a dirty Kaffir should walk on the pavement?… That's what they do in your British Colonies." Churchill termed this the root of Boer discontent: British government is associated in the Boer farmer's mind with violent social revolution. Black is to be proclaimed the same as white … nor is a tigress robbed of her cubs more furious than is the Boer at this prospect. In 1902, Churchill stated that the "great barbaric nations" would "menace civilised nations", and that "The Aryan stock is bound to triumph". In 1906, Churchill stated that "We will endeavour ... to advance the principle of equal rights of civilised men irrespective of colour." In 1937, Churchill stated that: I do not admit ... for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place. Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the USA, reports in his diary that during a White House lunch in May 1943 Churchill "said why be apologetic about Anglo-Saxon superiority, that we were superior, that we had the common heritage which had been worked out over the centuries in England and had been perfected by our constitution." By the 1940s Churchill still cherished the ideals of imperialism that he had followed since the 1890s, while much of British opinion had abandoned them. Colonialism was now seen as a crude device for the oppression of the weak by the strong. After the Second World War, old arguments about white racial superiority were no longer acceptable. The British public rejected the Churchillian notion of an imperial race predestined by moral character to rule and refashion the world in the British image. Among younger Britons, especially in academic circles, criticism grew sharper. Indeed, the empire itself was rapidly disintegrating, starting with India gaining independence in 1947, and finishing up with all the African colonies being lost in the 1950s. In 1955, Churchill expressed his support for the slogan "Keep England White" with regards to immigration from the West Indies. Churchill's personal doctor, Lord Moran, commented at one point that, in regards to other races, "Winston thinks only of the colour of their skin." India Churchill made disparaging remarks about Indians, mainly directed at Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress party and secessionists generally. Some historians have debated whether Churchill was driven in this antipathy by imperialism or by racism. He was angered in autumn 1930 by the Labour government's decision to grant Dominion status to India. He argued that it would hasten calls for full independence from the British Empire. He joined the Indian Empire Society which opposed the granting of Dominion status. In his view, India was not ready for home rule because he believed that the Brahmins would gain control and further oppress both the "untouchables" and the religious minorities. In March 1931, when riots broke out in Cawnpore between Hindus and Muslims, he claimed that the situation proved his case. John Charmley has argued that Churchill's denigration of Gandhi in the early 1930s contributed to fellow British Conservatives' dismissal of his early warnings about the rise of Adolf Hitler. Churchill's comments on Indians – as well as his views on race as a whole – were judged by his contemporaries within the Conservative Party to be extreme. Conversely, in 1906, Churchill defended the Indian minority in South Africa. In 1919, he openly condemned the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, referring to it as "unutterably monstrous". In 1935, Churchill invited Gandhi's friend, Ghanshyam Das Birla, to Chartwell, where he told him, "Mr. Gandhi has gone very high in my esteem since he stood up for the Untouchables," and expressed support for the Indian nationalists and advised them on how to improve the country, saying, "I am genuinely sympathetic towards India. I have got real fears about the future. India, I feel is a burden on us. We have got to maintain an army and for the sake of India we have to maintain Singapore and Near East strength. If India could look after herself we would be delighted. … I would be only too delighted if the Reforms are a success. I have all along fel.... Discover the J Aaron Churchill popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J Aaron Churchill books.