Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson

Brown Girls Read

In this episode, Daman & Khyati discuss the complexities of caste in India and racism in America, and how they are the two sides of the same coin. This discussion brings up several important issues, including the gatekeeping by dominant castes, normalized yet unfair behaviors, and also how understanding this framework allows us to understand other caste systems, which are more popularly called the "-isms", including sexism, and ableism. They also discuss the 2016 election and the rise of hate crimes in America, the power struggle that was behind several events, and the connection between caste and race.

About the book: Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today. In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including the divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day.

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