Summer Reading Reflection - Caste

Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” helped me understand and reconsider the social hierarchies that govern societies around the world, especially in the United States. Wilkerson argues that the concept of race, which is often viewed in America, is intertwined with a caste system that determines people’s roles in life. Wilkerson compares America’s racial divide to the caste systems in India and Nazi Germany, and gave me more understanding of the structural inequalities that existed and still exist around the world. Caste relates to many of our Global Studies themes, as Wilkerson connects caste to our GS themes such as human rights, non-violence, and oppression that has led to conflict and war. Because Wilkerson put the American experiences into a global context, she was able to draw attention to how caste systems not only justify violence and discrimination, but also have been used to maintain control over these lower caste systems. I learned so much from these ways Wilkerson had used to describe how caste systems work, as I was able to examine how these systems violate basic human rights. 

                  Some things I appreciated from Caste was from how Wilkerson made clear connections between historical events from Nazi Germany and the Indian caste systems. The stories that she told from inside these caste systems have opened my eyes even more than what I knew before I read this book. I really liked how Wilkerson showed the difference of details in these systems but also how their effects are very similar. One thing that I didn’t really like about Wilkerson’s writing/ideas is when she was talking about the similarities between the caste system between the US and Nazi Germany. While I agree with how both the US and Nazi Germany had caste systems, and may relate in some ways, I don’t agree with how Wilkersome compared them. I saw this when she was having a disagreement with someone at a dinner, and was saying how the US caste system was the same as Nazi Germany's caste system. I disagree as I believe that the caste system in Germany was used to literally erase Jews from the world, while the American caste system was more based on using the African Americans as slaves not to kill them, but to use them to build their country, through slaves. While it may be similar, I don’t think it’s right to say it's the same, as one caste was used for extinction, and one was used for beneficial gain. 

           I believe the movie Origin does a great job of visualizing the emotions and human impacts of caste systems, which the book examines very similarly with historical analysis. The movie definitely helped me understand the book better, as the book had a lot of dense writing in it, which made some things unclear for me. Movies help me a lot with being able to fully understand what I was reading, and the movie made me feel more confident when talking about a dense subject like caste. I think the movie would definitely help others understand the role of caste, as the movie never bored you, and conveyed so much emotion that you wouldn’t be able to not want to watch the movie.