A Clash of Color

Discusses the Indian and African American experience and dialogue on colonial exploitation, race, caste, nationalism and self-determination.

Compares the broader philosophical and sociological comparisons between race, caste and class and the intersections between the three. It examines multiple academic disciplines such as transnational history, global intellectual history, the history of race, ethnic studies, South Asian history, African American history, and Asian American history.The marginalization of Black Americans due to white supremacy and the oppression of Indians under British colonialism featured inescapable similarities. At the turn of the twentieth century, these parallels led Indian and Black nationalists, intellectuals, and activists to share their experiences and engage in dialogues towards improving the social status of their people. Specifically, Black internationalists such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Walter White, and Paul Robeson studied the Indian independence movement, and came to regard India as a template in the fight against white supremacy in the US. Similarly various Indians including Rabindranath Tagore, Lala Lajpat Rai, B. R. Ambedkar, and Taraknath Das theorized crucial parallels between race, colonialism and caste when studying the experiences of Black Americans. This book analyzes how they came together in their desire to overthrow the structures that subjugated them.