Reflections on "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson

Recently, I read Isabel Wilkerson's book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent. In the book, she makes the case that similar to India's caste system, the United States has its own version, using race as the basis. I really enjoyed the book. It incorporates history and current events, along with a lot of personal examples of the life of the author, who is a black woman, to illustrate her points. Here are my top 3 takeaways from the book.

A New Vocabulary to Describe Systemic Racism

One of the greatest things about the book was the author's description of systemic racism in terms of caste. Although many don't know the details of India's caste system, most of us are at least somewhat familiar with its basic premise that social ranks are determined by birth into certain groups. She breaks down how our racial system in the United States mirror this system, with those white at the top and those furthest from white (i.e. black) at the bottom. She also gives several historical lessons of the United States regarding race and ties them to current events like the 2016 election.

I have been saying for a while, how our society treats minorities poorly and the further from white they are, the more poorly they seem to be treated. This book affirms that theory in the context of a racial caste system. This description of caste is what many would likely describe as systemic racism. However, describing that system as a caste system gives it another layer of depth of how it operates almost seamlessly in our society, on a level that is in many times beyond conscious thought. As many white people might claim that they aren't racist because they don't burn crosses on the lawns of minorities, or that they are not privileged because they didn't grow up rich, they will have a harder time distancing themselves from being white and as a result at the top of our racial caste system.

I also enjoyed how she described herself as being able to figure out who was the higher and lower-ranking caste members in her trips to India, based on how the people interacted with one another. As a black woman with no background in Indian culture, she was able to see just how people carried themselves and based on the level of privilege they seemed to exude, she was able to determine where they fell in the caste system of their society.

The United States Inspired Nazi Germany

Another interesting thing I got from the book was the history lesson on how much the United States inspired Nazi Germany. I found this particularly interesting, because we as a nation love to say how we fought Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II, but don't usually acknowledge how much inspiration the Nazis took from the United States with regards to its racial segregation policies of the South and Native American extermination policies of the Western frontier.

In some cases, the Nazis weren't even willing to go as far as the United States did concerning its racial segregation policies. For example, the one-drop rule noted that if you had any black ancestors (one drop of black blood), you were considered black. The Nazis felt that these parameters were too rigid and impractical when it came to identifying Jews in their society and thus didn't go as far in their classification system during the Holocaust. The author also noted how the Nazis didn't sell postcards or other memorabilia from places like Auschwitz in the way that was done after the public lynchings of the South.

Empathy Is the Key to Dismantling the System

Towards the end of the book, Wilkerson gives a couple of personal stories with potential solutions to dismantling the racial caste system of this country. I noted that these solutions revolved around finding ways to trigger empathy in the dominant caste, which in our society would be white people. She notes a story of her white friend getting the black treatment when they were at a restaurant together and one where a repairman goes from treating her callously to a much warmer manner after they related over the loss of their mothers. Both cases involved members of the privileged class getting past their personal privilege through empathy and using it when possible on behalf of those who don't have it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think it was an excellent read and I highly recommend it. It is a great history lesson, current event analysis, and personal memoir, which helps us redefine systemic racism in a way that can help us better deal with it in the future.