Play Book Tag discussion

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson - 4 stars - My Review

“A caste system is an artificial construction, a fixed and embedded ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of other groups on the basis of ancestry and often immutable traits, traits that would be neutral in the abstract but are ascribed life-and-death meaning in a hierarchy favoring the dominant caste whose forebears designed it. A caste system uses rigid, often arbitrary boundaries to keep the ranked groupings apart, distinct from one another and in their assigned places.”

Wilkerson asserts that caste is the primary driver of discriminatory behavior in American society. She makes comparisons among the American caste system, the Indian Caste system, and Nazi Antisemitism. She draws on history, scientific studies, and personal observations to support her thesis. She defines and explains eight pillars of caste.

The primary benefit of this book is the description of how caste has influenced, and continues to influence, racism in the United States, with roots tracing back to slavery. I think the author’s description of the evolution of caste is particularly well done. I am not well versed enough in the Indian caste system to comment on Wilkerson’s analysis. She states that she was unfamiliar with it when she started her research, and its history is not examined in depth. The parallels with Nazi Germany provide food for thought.

Wilkerson encourages each individual to extend empathy to those in the subordinate caste (her term). However, if those in the dominant caste are not aware of how caste impacts behavior, I am not sure how these issues can be fully remedied by individual actions. Even so, it is an important topic in contemporary society, and it cannot hurt to put it under a microscope.

“Radical empathy is not about you and what you think you would do in a situation you have never been in and perhaps never will. It is the kindred connection from a place of deep knowing that opens your spirit to the pain of another as they perceive it...The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly.”

Great review! I really need to find time to read this one.

Jen K wrote: "Great review! I really need to find time to read this one."

Thanks, Jen!