Lecture by Nico Slate, Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University.

In the late nineteenth century, a variety of social reformers began to articulate analogies between the injustices of colonial India and the United States. The discourses that linked Indians and African Americans revolved around the tension between two at times contradictory pairs of analogies. On the one hand, many historical actors compared struggles against racial oppression in the United States with movements against caste oppression in India. In contrast with this race/caste analogy, comparisons between American racism and British imperialism paired African Americans with all Indians.

While developing these race/caste and race/colony analogies, several activists pioneered a colored cosmopolitanism that transcended traditional racial distinctions, positioning Indians and African Americans together at the vanguard of the 'darker races.' Articulated most eloquently by W.E.B. Du Bois, colored cosmopolitanism appealed to those working to forge a united front against racism, imperialism, and other forms of oppression. Advocates of colored cosmopolitanism fought for the freedom of the 'colored world,' even while calling into question the meanings of both color and freedom.