Why did people think british empire was bad?

Answer 1

The British empire was bad because they where very racist by enslaving black people.

Another view:

The primary source of black slaves was the sale of their people to slave traders by the local chiefs. The efforts of reformers in England put an end to the slave trade.

Of course not all members of the Empire were black - ranging across all racial groups. British rule tended to liberate the black (or brown, or yellow, or white)people from enslavement by their own black tribal rulers and petty kings.

Colonial rule was comparatively benevolent and progressive. The colonies were gradually brought to self-rule on a basis of democratic self-government. Sometimes this failed after independence with a reversion to local dictatorial rule, suppression and abuse of the people, as in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.

Answer 2

In the 1940s a survey was done where the vast majority of Britons could not name a single colony. More people thought Lincolnshire was a colony than India. Beyond patriotic attempts to raise awareness by re-branding products with the word 'Empire' in the early 1900s, people were not aware it existed. The only time it should have ever been important and in the forefront of peoples minds was during WW2 and the post-war period, but people were much too concerned with matters at home to care.