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Oct 28, 2021

#201



As part of the Better Leaders Better Schools Mastermind, we have just finished reading Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste which compares and contrasts the caste systems in India, Nazi Germany and the US.

Through a combination of academic research, historical data and personal stories illustrative of how caste prevailed and - in the case of India and the US - continues to prevail, Wilkerson sheds light on the status quo. Along with Dolly Chugh’s The Person You Mean to Be and Ibrahim X. Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist, Wilkerson’s Caste raises one’s knowledge and understanding of historical events, practices and social norms and how these impacted and continue to impact the lives of people today and, thus, the necessity for social justice initiatives under the umbrella of diversity equity, inclusion and belonging.

So extensive is Wilkerson’s research and examples illustrative of caste, that I have highlighted sections of text on almost every single one of the 400 plus pages. Whilst reading, the following references and quotes very much stood out:

  • “In a totalitarian regime such as that of The Third Reich, it was an act of bravery to stand firm against an ocean. We would all want to believe that we would have been him” (pages xvi - xvii, describing the individual who, in a photo taken in Hamburg in 1936, refused to salute Hitler)

  • “The institution of slavery created a rippling distortion of human relationships where people on one side were made to perform the role of subservience and to sublimate whatever innate talents of intelligence they might have had” (page 51 when describing the way in which caste - through slavery - was entrenched in America).

  • In chapter eight, The Nazis and the Acceleration of Caste, Wilkerson references how Nazi Germany drew directly on the work of American eugenicists and - in reference to Nazis looking at various white dominated countries - quotes Whitman , “there were no other models for miscegenation law that the Nazis could find in the world ... Their overwhelming interest was in the ‘classic example’, the United States of America.” (page 82)

  • In pillar number two, Heritability, Wilkerson makes a distinction between class and caste by stating that markers (be they accent, social standing, education, income etc.,.), “can be acquired through hard work and ingenuity or lost through poor decisions or calamity. If you can act your way out of it, then it is class, not caste.” (page 106)

  • In pillar number seven, Terror as Enforcement, Cruelty as a Means of Control, Wilkerson shares reference to not just the frequency of lynching but also the fact that it occurred in living memory, “African-Americans were mutilated and hanged from poplars and sycamores and burned in the courthouse square, a lynching every three or four days in the first four decades of the twentieth century.” (page 155)

  • In chapter sixteen, Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement, Wilkerson reiterates the way in which caste is reinforced, “The caste system thrives on dissension and inequality, envy and false rivalries, that build up in a world of perceived scarcity” (page 239) and “The enforcers of caste come in every color, creed, and gender. One does not have to be in the dominant caste to do its bidding. In fact, the most potent instrument of the caste system is a sentinel at every rung, whose identity forswears any accusation of discrimination and helps keep the caste system humming.” (page 244)

  • In chapter seventeen, On the Early Front Lines of Caste, Wilkerson puts forth the work of Allison and Elizabeth Davis (an African American couple) and Burleigh and Mary Gardner (a white couple) who, as part of their interracial research, embedded themselves in Natchez, Mississippi in the 1930s to observe (from their vantage points) the role of caste, class and race upon all within the town.

  • In chapter twenty four, Cortisol, Telomeres, and the Lethality of Caste, Wilkerson shares how societal inequality (rather than race alone) impacts the health and longevity of African Americans.

  • In chapter twenty seven, The Symbols of Caste, Wilkerson contrasts how the US and Germany react to the past. In the US, there are statues honouring Confederate generals, schools, roads named in their honour and the flag is not outlawed. In Germany, victims (rather than the Nazi perpetrators) are honoured and displaying the swastika is a punishable offence.

  • In chapter thirty, Shedding the Sacred Thread, she shared a Brahmin’s observations of the caste system keeping all in place in India and his realization - through interacting with Dalits - of how his place and role reinforced the caste system. As a result thereof, he (by cutting the sacred thread he had been given during a rite of passage at the temple) renounced his high caste status.

As shared in my July 2021 post, "Invisibility is the very nature of ordinary privilege", I am - as frequently happens with books that challenge us and make us think more deeply - continuing to process my thoughts relating to privilege, bias, diversity, inclusion and advocacy and specifically caste against the backdrop of my experiences and observations of the wider world. As a lifelong learner wholeheartedly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in schools and in our wider world, I look forward to being able to continue to learn more and reflect about these issues and my place in society through further reading, PD opportunities etc.,

Wilkerson’s final sentence, “A world without caste would set everyone free” (page 388), seems to not simply be a matter of fact, but rather a case of her imploring us to take action. As a result I can not help but think of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s words, “Compassion is not just feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation… if you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action!” and "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”



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