"Caste"

(The Origins of Our Discontents)

2020

-by isabel wilkerson

Through detailed comparisons of nazi Germany, classic India, and America's jim crow south, "Caste" deconstructs the function of caste in a society, and breaks down its elements. It contrasts caste with class, a fluid hierarchical tier in which anyone's status and wealth can (hypothetically, at least) rise or descend. Caste can exist simultaneously with class, but unlike class, caste is never fluid. If one is born into a caste, that is where they will live and die.

One anecdote refuses to leave my brain. In 1934, the nazis had ascended. They wished to enact laws that would codify the jews' status as second-class citizens. They sent a law student to America, to study the legal codes of the south. At the Reichstag meeting where the student gave his report, even the hardline nazis were stunned by the severity of the anti-black laws.

The nazis found America appalling.

Do you?

The depth of research in this book is simply stunning. Isabel's achievement stands alongside any work of nonfiction ever written, in essential understanding of America.