Book 2 Post 2
I have not finished The Caste yet, but the past few chapters I have read have been extremely eye-opening. The author refers to herself as a "housing inspector" as she examines the foundations of American caste system. She uses instances from her own life and from history to help the reader understand her points. For example, to help the reader understand the caste system in the US, she discusses forced enslavement and how upper caste people had unlimited power in that scenario. Her personal experiences as an African American woman were vulnerable and helped me understand her points deeper.
Wilkerson shares that caste in India has similar frameworks as the system of the US. She describes that although Hinduism's caste system is older and more elaborate, the consequences for human lives are very similiar. I was very surprised to learn that the Dalits, which were the people of the bottom of the caste in India, were long aware of African American's civil right struggle. She explains that the Dalits were actually inspired by them. Her studies also reveal the lasting psychological effects of the caste as she shared that Dalit's she has met in America are too afraid to ask for basic needs.
The author emphasizes that the existing American legal system still reinforces Caste. The first example she gave was the one of Charles Stuart and how he was able to deflect suspicion from himself for the murder of his wife by blaming it on a Black man. The example that she gave that stood out the most to me was Wilkerson's personal encounter with DEA agents in the airport when she had done absolutely nothing wrong. This book is definitely heavy and not a book that I would typically reach for, but I it really did open my eyes to the racism/flaws that is still unfortunately faced in America.
Hey Noor, great post. Caste is definitely such a powerful and heavy topic, and it's unfortunate how it's still present within our legal system to this day.
ReplyDeleteHi Noor,
ReplyDeleteReading books and articles about the horrors and acts towards certain people gets me in my emotions every time. I can't understand why we see certain traits as less than others. We all want the same thing, to live a – happy, healthy, and fruitful life. Why is so hard to achieve?
Hi Noor! I read your first post on the book, and enjoyed reading your second post just as much. This is such a heavy topic to read up on, but it seemed to be a very eyeopening and interesting look at how our world somehow still functions.
ReplyDeleteHey Noor, what an interesting read! Growing up I continuously heard or read about the caste system in Hinduism, and how it was so deeply rooted in history. I never really stopped and thought about the psychological effects it has on the people who are most vulnerable in these systems. Definitely a book I’m going to have to add to my reading list.
ReplyDeleteHi Noor, reading about the caste system is definitely a heavy topic to read about, especially learning about how it still is prevalent today in American society. Just reading your posts, I can gauge how eye opening and thought provoking this book is.
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