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Quote by Isabel Wilkerson

“Slavery was not merely an unfortunate thing that happened to black people. It was an American innovation, an American institution created by and for the benefit of the elites of the dominant caste and enforced by poorer members of the dominant caste who tied their lot to the caste system rather than to their consciences.”

Quote by Isabel Wilkerson

Book:Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
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Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

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Isabel Wilkerson
Isabel Wilkerson

Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist renowned for her profound insights into racial and social issues. Born in New York in 1961, she graduated from Columbia University with a Master's degree in journalism. Wilkerson's work, 'The Warmth of Other Suns', which meticulously documents the mass migration of African Americans from the Southern United States in the mid-20th century, won the Pulitzer Prize. more

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“Caste is a very important element of Indian society. As soon as a person is born, caste determines his or her destiny. Being born is not in the control of a person. If it were in one’s control, then why would I have been born in a Bhangi household? Those who call themselves the standard-bearers of this country’s great cultural heritage, did they decide which homes they would be born into? Of course, they turn to scriptures to justify their position, the scriptures that establish feudal values instead of promoting equality and freedom.”

RealityDiscriminationIndian AuthorsIndian CultureCasteCaste SystemCasteismDalit
Book:Joothan: An Untouchable's Life
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“As he was raising his hand to his lips, it occurred to him that this was the first time in all his years that he had eaten something that was prepared by hands of unknown caste. Perhaps it was this thought, or perhaps it was just the smell of the food--it happened, at any rate, that he was assailed by a nausea so powerful that he could not bring his fingers to his mouth. The intensity of his body's resistance amazed him: for the fact was that he did not believe in caste, or at least he had said, many, many times, to his friends and anyone else who would listen. If, in answer, they accused him of having become too tash, overly Westernized, his retort was always to say, no, his allegiance was to the Buddha, the Mahavira, Shri Chaitanya, Kabir and many others such--all of whom had battled against the boundaries of caste with as much determinations as any European revolutionary. Neel had always taken pride in laying claim to this lineage of egalitarianism, all the more so since it was his prerogative to see on a Raja's guddee: but why, then, had he never before eaten anything prepared by an unknown hand?”

Social JusticeCaste SystemInstitutionalized Racism
Book:Sea of Poppies
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“सदियों से चली आ रही इस प्रथा के पार्श्व में जातीय अहम की पराकाष्ठा है। समाज में जो गहरी खाई है उसे प्रथा और गहरा बनाती है। एक साजिश है हीनता के भँवर में फँसा देने की। Caste pride is behind this centuries-old custom. The deep chasm that divides the society is made even deeper by this custom, a conspiracy to trap us in the whirlpool of inferiority.”

IndiaIndian AuthorsIndian CultureCasteCaste SystemCasteismDalit
Author:Om Prakash Valimiki
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