Churchill was ‘clear racist’, claims black professor City academic embroiled in row after astronaut’s tweet
ABIRMINGHAM professor of black studies has claimed wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was a “clear racist”.
And Birmingham City University professor Kehinde Andrews claimed Britain was “built on racism” in a heated debate with former newspaper editor Piers Morgan on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday.
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Mr Andrews also claimed “everyone involved in it probably has a really racist past”.
He also likened Churchill to Adolf Hitler for his treatment of Indians when the country endured a famine in 1943.
But Morgan told the professor he clearly “hates” Britain.
“The historical record here is clear,” Mr Andrews said. “Even Boris Johnson admitted that Winston hit in back with: a country “Why do that you Churchill was racist. He believed that the white race was superior, that natives didn’t have right to their lands in the Americas and that the Indians were a ghastly people.”
Susanna Reid, Morgan’s co-host, attempted to defuse the row by explaining Churchill could be viewed as a product of his time.
But Mr Andrews said: “That was the Jimmy Saville defence, it was ‘that way back in the day...’
“Leo Amery, the Secretary of State for India, said that Churchill’s views on India were so extreme he couldn’t separate them from Hitler’s.
“The truth is Hitler was a great military leader, a product of his time, and if they had won the war we would be having this same discussion now.
“The fact of the matter is that [Churchill’s] views led to three million people starving to death in Bengal as he was more interested in stockpiling rations for war.
“This is the problem that Britain has. The reality is that it’s built on racism and everyone involved in it probably has a really racist past.”
Morgan replied: “If it hadn’t been for Winston Churchill I think we probably wouldn’t have the stomach to take on Hitler.
“He rallied everyone in this country.
“During the war, I genuinely believe, that notwithstanding his flaws which aren’t in dispute, he evolved as a man and became a wonderful leader of this country.”
Mr Andrews has ten books over the past five years including Back to writ- Black : Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century and Resisting Racism: Race, Inequality and the Black Supplementary School Movement. He says British imperialism has ‘ruined’ many other parts of the world, including the Caribbean and Africa. The debate comes after retired American astronaut Scott Kelly apol- ogised on Twitter following criticism from some users for quoting Churchill in a previous tweet.
On Sunday, Kelly wrote: “One of the greatest leaders of modern times, Sir Winston Churchill said, ‘in victory, magnanimity’. I guess those days are over.”
Later that day, the American said he would ‘educate himself ’ on Churchill’s ‘atrocities and racist views’ following backlash from the tweet.
But he also came under fire from others who accused Kelly of caving into a Twitter mob, which said Churchill was one of the greatest figures in history.