Some people know that Mahatma Gandhi didn’t like black people but many others don’t due to his legacy as a pillar of civil rights. There’s evidence of his racial issues since he called Africans ‘kaffirs,” a derogatory term for black people, in a speech given back in 1896. In response to these types of statements, the University of Ghana recently announced that they’ll be removing a statue of Gandhi from its main campus after a group of lecturers and students voiced their concerns.

According to the Huffington Post, the statue was originally placed there in June – still among protests – as a sign of good faith between Ghana and India’s shared history of civil rights.

“The government would therefore want to relocate the statue from the University of Ghana to ensure its safety and to avoid the controversy … being a distraction (from) our strong ties of friendship,” said Ghana’s foreign ministry in a statement.

The statement also encouraged everyone to look past Gandhi’s racist comments and focus on the good things that he’d done throughout his life.

Many historians claim that, while Gandhi did much work for the people of his own country, he wasn’t exactly a supporter of racial equality.

Hopefully the statue will be replaced with one of the many other civil rights leaders who believed in supporting all people.

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