Colour Bar

'Fate has purposely made her blind, in order that she may not judge a person from his exterior but from his intrinsic worth. But the Law Society of Natal set out to persuade the Supreme court to act in contravention of this principle and to belie its symbol'

In this quote, Gandhi shows how the prejudice and racism in South Africa made it extremely difficult for him to become a member of the Law Society in Natal. By using the metaphor of the blind woman holding the scales, the symbol of a court of justice, he emphasises how this prejudice is not fair, and how it goes against the fundamental beliefs of the justice system. The juxtaposition between the description of the symbol of a court of justice and the institutionalised racism in the Natal court of justice makes the unfairness of the situation even more apparent to the reader. Racism is a recurring theme throughout Gandhi's time in South Africa, and further on in this chapter he shows the difficulties he had to go to, just to be accepted in the courts of justice in Natal, as he had to go through a much more rigorous application process than a european barrister would have had to.

'Natal owed its growth to European enterprise, and therefore it was necessary that the European element should predominate in the bar' 

This shows why prejudice was so apparent in the courts of justice, as without the Europeans, the people of Natal would not have any enterprise or the economy it did, and so they feel that the Europeans were owed the majority of seats in the bar, and by letting in an Indian man, the people of Natal were worried that it would upset the Europeans and they would leave, taking their trade and enterprise with them. They were also worried that if they let Gandhi be admitted, gradually more and more non Europeans would start joining, and then the Europeans would be outnumbered, and not happy. By using forceful words such as 'owed' and 'necessary' it shows how important it was to the people of Natal that Europeans dominated the bar, and very few, if not none, Indians or other non Europeans were admitted.