10 Respected People Who Turned Out to Be Huge Racists

10 Respected People Who Turned Out to Be Huge Racists

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring the beloved and respected historical figures who, despite their good deeds for the world, hid a terrible racism that tarnished their reputations.

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

As the patriarch of the Kennedy family, Joseph P. Kennedy greatly influenced his sons John, Robert, and Ted, all of whom went into politics. Kennedy himself was involved in politics, becoming the US ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1938. However, this is where the problems came in. According to Kennedy’s former aide, Harvey Klemmer, he would use antisemitic phrases regularly. After meeting diplomat Herbert von Dirksen, the German told his bosses that Kennedy shared their views on Jews but didn’t like how they were being so public about it. He was well-known for being friendly with antisemitic figures like Catholic priest Charles Coughlin and Viscountess Nancy Astor. This, coupled with forcing his daughter Rosemary to have a lobotomy, tarnished Kennedy’s legacy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

On the surface, Napoleon appears like a French hero and a war genius. However, in reality, he tried to set the country back. In 1794, during the French Revolution, the European nation abolished slavery. Yet in 1802, with Napoleon in charge, he instigated the Law of 20 May 1802, allowing slavery back in France’s colonies. This made the country the first to re-allow slavery after voting to abolish it. To make sure it was followed, Napoleon sent massive fleets to violently put slavery back in place. This included the Saint-Domingue expedition, in modern-day Haiti, which resulted in more than 20,000 deaths. Closer to home, Napoleon also banned non-white people from entering France.

Andrew Jackson

Instead of being remembered for his efforts in aiding working-class Americans, the 7th President of the US is better known for calling slavery abolitionists “monsters” and the atrocities he committed towards indigenous Americans. In 1830, a little over a year after being elected, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which allowed the government to displace Native American tribes from the eastern US and take them west of the Mississippi River. Known as the “Trail of Tears,” lasting from 1830 until 1850, around 60,000 people from several Native nations were forced to relocate from their homes. Seen as ethnic cleansing, around 16,700 people didn’t survive the journey. Many perished from disease, while others were murdered by locals and soldiers.

Mahatma Gandhi

As a leading anti-colonial activist, Gandhi played a vital role in helping India gain independence from Great Britain. However, his legacy is far more complicated than you might realize. In 1893, Gandhi arrived in South Africa and quickly experienced racism. While this experience would mould him into an activist, it also revealed a less-flattering side. Following arrests, Gandhi wrote in letters about his outrage at being locked up with Black people, comparing them to “animals.” When he briefly returned to India, he used derogatory terms about Black people, including the use of slurs. According to Gandhi’s biographer, Ramachandra Guha, he also saw Europeans as civilized, Indians nearly as much, and Africans as uncivilized.

Dr. Seuss

As a prolific children’s author and illustrator, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was a pivotal part of many upbringings. Yet behind the whimsical stories and drawings, he wasn’t as wholesome. During World War II, Seuss drew racist, anti-Japanese, political newspaper cartoons and supported the internment of Japanese Americans. These sentiments also bled into his books, with several cartoons being criticized later as racist, causing them to be withdrawn from sale. He did later demonstrate significant personal growth, however. After visiting Japan and seeing the devastation from the atomic bombs, Seuss changed his stance. His book “Horton Hears a Who!”, released in 1954, was dedicated to a Japanese friend, Mitsugi Nakamura, and the plot was an allegory for the American occupation of Japan.

Walt Disney

With the world-famous studio in his name, Disney has played a vital role in the lives of generations upon generations. Yet there are many blemishes in his legacy. In 1938, while working on “Fantasia,” Disney gave Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl a tour of the studio. There were also claims that Disney attended meetings with the German American Bund, which supported Germany’s actions during the war. There’s also 1946’s “Song of the South,” which was widely criticized as racist and has never been released on home video or streaming After Disney was publicly criticized by Meryl Streep in 2014 for his antisemitism, his grandniece, Abigail Disney, supported the actor’s assessment and later said he “bordered on rabid fascism.”

Henry Ford

While he was a pioneer in car manufacturing, Ford also had another job that was far less celebrated…being the owner of the antisemitic newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. After taking ownership of it in 1919, Ford’s horrific work was celebrated by far-right officials in Germany, including Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. The former of whom even stated Ford was “an inspiration” and had a portrait of him near his desk. Lawsuits about the problematic material in the paper led to Ford shuttering it in 1927, after which he apologized. However, there are allegations that his signature on the statement was forged. In 1938, Ford was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the country’s highest medal it could give a non-national.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill is often credited with playing a vital role in defeating the Axis Powers during World War II. But the Prime Minister of Great Britain was a massive racist. With famine sweeping through Bengal, then a British colony, Churchill made many hateful statements toward Indians. He also dismissed giving relief, claiming they were “breeding like rabbits.” Instead of helping end the famine, Churchill took what little food was in Bengal and focused it on the British military. Up to 3.8 million perished in the famine. According to a 2019 study, while drought kicked off the famine, Churchill’s lack of action greatly accelerated the disaster.

Thomas Jefferson

As one of the American Founding Fathers and the country’s third president, Jefferson has a mythical perception that favors the more heroic aspects of his legacy. However, it doesn’t take into account how much he benefited from slavery. Jefferson, who lived on the Monticello plantation in Virginia, is believed to have had around 600 slaves throughout his life. Only two were released during his lifetime. Following his wife’s death, Jefferson took his teenage slave Sally Hemings with him to France. During that time and when they returned to the US, he fathered several children with her, which was supported by modern-day DNA testing. Even after Jefferson’s death, Hemings was never officially freed.

Woodrow Wilson

In addition to leading the US through World War I, President Woodrow Wilson also helped to create the League of Nations, a precursor to the United Nations. But Wilson wasn’t exactly enlightened when it came to race. While attending college, he lobbied against admitting Black students. Once Wilson got into the White House, he permitted segregated government offices. This also affected the military as Black officers were banned. However, this is also the same president who allowed the first film screening inside the White House to be D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation,” a film glorifying the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, a quote from Wilson, advocating for white supremacy, was even shown within the movie.

What other respected figure who was racist did we miss from our list? Let us know in the comments.