CASTE

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter protest, we recently started a Diversity and Equity Book Club at work. The first book selection was Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. It was a fitting first book because it charts the history of casteism in the US and beyond, including the country with the longest and most-engrained caste culture - India.

Not to be undone, the United States has taken caste to a whole new level, and those who are black and brown are relegated to the lowest rungs of our society.

Casteism is different than racism because it is not just based on one's race. It is based on the belief that even those who are black and brown and educated or seemingly accomplished should remain in their place. No ascension is possible if one comes from the lowest caste, to which one is doomed by one's skin color and the history of one's ancestors who were the original members of the lowest caste.

The authors describes that the caste system does not come about by accident. Rather, those at the top of the caste system diligently work to keep those in the lowest caste in their place. This includes both wealthy whites, who are at the top of the ladder, but also poor whites. The latter group may not be economically superior to those in the lowest caste, but they feel superior because of their historical origins in the U.S.

Caste is not an easy book to read, but it is an urgent book. You will read no book this year that makes you question how unfair that country has been since its founding and that hopefully motivates you to do something about it.