Did Achebe misread ‘Heart of Darkness’?

Kenya:  In a lecture titled An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, Chinua Achebe accused Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness of being a racist. Not just that, but a “bloody racist”.

He would later change it to a thoroughgoing racist. You would say he was merely moving from pedestrian to highbrow. The charge had not changed. Only the language to save his face. Therefore, certain questions must follow: Whom did Achebe brand a racist? Was it Conrad the person? Whatever the case, what evidence did he have?  How was that evidence adduced? Was it convincing? What motivated Achebe? Was he bitter, as Cedric Watts, the most competent commentator on his lecture has stated? Indeed, was Achebe being fair, nay, humane, to Conrad?