America’s Caste System

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/898918916/americas-caste-system

It’s been nearly four months since the death of George Floyd. Nearly four months since #BLM was a topic the entire nation and the world was forced to consider. Nearly four months since #blackouttuesday took over your instagram feed.

I felt like it was important this month to keep the conversation going… and what better way than with another perspective on how to understand the systemic roots of racism. The more tools and understanding we can arm ourselves with the more likely we are to start making forward progress.

So this month… we bring you an episode from the fabulous Throughline series from NPR. In this episode we get to hear from Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson, author of the book Caste: The Origins of Our Dicontents. She talks about her take on looking at American history through the lens of a “caste” and it’s both eye opening and insightful. Frankly I also love hearing about the process that authors go through to bring their works to life.

Suggested discussion questions (if you need something to start the conversation):

• We happened to have several members in our group who’s country of origin is India -> a country where caste has been a reality for many hundreds of years.

  • What corollaries can be drawn between that system and American history?

  • How might religion add an additional layer of complexity?

• “a caste is literally there to hold things in place” Does the caste lens help you focus on the power dynamics at play vs. the (very real) emotions that are associated with the system? Where do you think the caste lens might be useful? or not useful?

• What is socialization and what role does it play? What does it mean to “fit in” or “conform” to societal norms? What do we inherit from the society that we are born into? When is “status quo” not ok and how do we change it?