Caste Book Analysis Introduction: Over the course of this month and this semester, the topic of discussion has been racism. Although some may believe differently from us, I appreciate and admire that this is the first topic of discussion. Racism is something that is still found in today’s world. Although it’s not as common and more in the light than ever, there are still some prejudices that walk around showing their hatred towards a specific race. In Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson she really dives into social hierarchy and discrimination, the racial hierarchy here in the United States, historical context, and the Nazi regime's treatment of Jews. Racial matters that have taken place in history and even in current events, events …show more content…
And the shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in the United States. Each version relied on stigmatizing those deemed inferior to justify the dehumanization necessary to keep the lowest-ranked people at the bottom and to rationalize the protocols of enforcement. A caste system endures because it is often justified as divine will, originating from sacred text or the presumed laws of nature, reinforced throughout the culture and passed down through the generations” (Wilkerson 110). Wilkerson makes a case for the different caste systems. Her case is that the Nazi and Indian caste systems kept the lowest ranked people at the bottom and the upper ranked people higher. Caste systems grouped people together, and her case being that the United States is the same way, it just goes unnoticed. Book analysis and thoughts: After reading In Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, I found this book to be very interesting. It dives into points and topics that I was unaware of, for example the different caste systems. Going in depth on different caste systems really just gave me a whole new perspective on how our country and some of the world is
Society has developed throughout history into a seemingly equal, segregated commonwealth. In general, humanity may seem to have broken the nineteenth century class structure, nonetheless, there are situations today that still have deep roots in discrimination and apartheid. Advancement in both extremes can result in catastrophe, therefore, it is inevitable that a balance must be reached. In the short stories “Totem” by Thomas King, and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the theme of overdeveloped social beliefs has proven to be the most significant. In both stories, the author is trying to say that society is either too equal, such as in “Harrison Bergeron” or too contrasting, such as in “Totem.”
Young, Iris Marion. "Five Faces of Oppression." Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. Ed. Adams, M., et. Al. New York: Routledge, 2000.
The book “Defining Contested Concepts” does a swell job of explaining that race, class, gender, and sexuality are systems of oppression and are often contested within our society. The author, Lynn Weber (2010) argues that oppression through these titles exist within our every day interactions and that bigger powers in our political, economic and ideological make it possible for greater divisions between groups of people. These powers make the rules that give some people more privilege than others. Weber describes that there are four patterns of social relationships that are advocates oppression. These segregations are all controlled by the bigger powers, being characteristics that give affected individuals an unfair disadvantage to various interrelated aspects in their lives.
Unit 6 Case 5 – Worker’s Compensation Nurse Jane Smith is a 30-year employee of the Medical-Surgical Unit and injured her back transferring a post-op 250-lb patient from the gurney to the bed. Her co-workers who were present heard her complain about the pain in her leg immediately after the patient transfer. She did not report the injury at the time, but two days later, when she was unable to get out of bed due to back spasms, she called her nurse manager and reported the injury. Answer the following questions based upon your knowledge of worker’s compensation both from the literature and from your place of employment:
History has experienced a distinct separation between the minorities (Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African-Americans) and the majority (the whites) in the United States of America. This separation has been brought about by the several models of the exclusion of the minority; these two models are: political and economic disempowerment and apartheid (Forum 2, 1). Apartheid involves the separation of a certain group of people from other parts of the society through legal, political and economic discrimination (Denton 2). Whereas political and economic disempowerment is reducing drastically or taking away the rights previously held by a group, they are taken away to minimize the power of the minorities in the society. Apartheid
Inequality became instrumental in privileging white society early in the creation of American society. The white society disadvantaged American Indian by taking their land and established a system of rights fixed in the principle that equality in society depended on the inequality of the Indians. This means that for white society to become privileged they must deprive the American Indians of what was theirs to begin with. Different institutions such as the social institution, political, economical, and education have all been affected by race. Sociologists use Assimilation theory to examine race and institutions. The perceived deficiencies of minority immigrant groups by white society has resulted in a generalized characterization of these different racial groups that is demeaning and reinforces the negative stereotypes towards minorities in the United States. Knowles and Prewitt argue that the cause behind the racial tension is the historical roots of institutional racism, which has prevented the minority from attaining equality. Following structured social inequality in the United States, institutions have consistently denied the minority groups through discrimination in education, employment, health care and medicine, and politics. Some ways that this has been done is the use of Jim Crow Laws. These laws created inequality in the educational institution by conducting the black schools and whited schools separately; whites used different textbooks than blacks and they could not be interchanged, and promoting equality for the races was considered a misdemeanor offense resulting in fines or prison. Because of these institutions, we see that there is an American Ethnic Hierarchy. This is divided into a three tier system: first ...
Stratification systems, categorized people by class, gender, ethnicity, wealth/income. When people are categorized, start looking at different systems within the social system or social mobility. “The four main systems of stratification have been slavery, caste, estate, and class. Each of these systems allows greater or less flexibility in terms of social mobility. Social mobility is the ability to move up or down within a social stratification hierarchy” (Larkin, 2015). Slavery is a social status began with social norms allowing people to own others. The slaves had no wealth or power while under this social status. Caste systems are all aspects of social status are assigned at births and held forever,
Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, once said, “Hating People because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. I’s just plain wrong” (Goodreads, 2015). For many centuries, ethnic conflict between the humans have existed immortally due the never changing differences of culture and values, spinning the cycle of war. Fortunately, some have ended however some still remain immortal in the eyes of those who have experience struggle to this date. The lack of awareness of problems in a cultural crisis concerning those who fall victim to a system and society that discriminates and alienates. With assistance of Critical Race Theory, this essay will examine how the role of race with has affected has caused consequences within the lives of marginalized groups within society through the lives and their relationship with those in their communities.
The feeling of inferior and superior, rich and poor, high caste and low caste does exist in my society. In my country Nepal, we still have the group of people who call themselves as high castes and they do not touch or eat anything that is touched by so called low caste people. As a result, these people have to change their caste in order to keep themselves away from such discriminations. Regarding rich and poor, we can still see that poor people sometimes ends up working in rich people house and there these poor people are really treated as slaves, even in today 's world. Why? Just because they do not have money or property? Now, after all, these readings and personal thoughts; back then, when Thomas Jefferson wrote "All men are created equal", and he himself had started following this phrase in right way and gave freedom to slaves then today I believe I would not be in this society where these discriminations still
Vedantam, Shankar. "Shades of Prejudice." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Especially here in the United States, but also in other countries around the world, certain races are placed in social hierarchies, creating inequality for accessible treatment and opportunities for one race over another. In the “Boat Game,” we learned first-hand that identities, ranking, and positions of power are not natural, although they appear to be; the social categories are socially constructed and are not permanent (Palaita,
Ogbu, J. U. (1978). Minority education and caste: The American system in cross-cultural perspective. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
In the novel This Earth Of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, discrimination against social structure, race, and gender is apparent. The setting is in the Indies, or now called Indonesia. At that time, there are terms for different races in the book, which are “Native” indicating someone who is pure Indonesian, “Indo” a half European and half Indonesian, and “Pure Blood” or “European” when someone is pure European. An Indo and a Pure Blood receives more respect in society than a Native. Furthermore, European or Pure Blood is at the top of this social hierarchy, people who are European or Pure Blood receives the utmost respect in society. Differences in gender is prevalent in this novel, where most women in this book have power in their own homes, but in society is looked down upon. Female characters experiencing these are Annelies, the main character’s love interest, Nyai Ontosoroh, Annelies’ mother who is a concubine, and Magda Peters, the main character’s European teacher. Women in this novel are portrayed differently according to what race, social structure, and gender they are born in, which can be seen through Nyai Ontosoroh, Annelies, and Magda Peters.
Racism is based on the belief that one’s culture is superior to that of others, and this racial superiority provides justification for discrimination. Racism begins with categorising by race, and therefore stereotyping particular cultures. A simple definition of prejudice given by St Thomas Aquinas states prejudice as “thinking ill of others without sufficient cause” (1. pg 21). Racism is a major issue in today’s society, affecting a large number of the world’s population and causing political and social turmoil. To evaluate the true meaning, effects and views concerning racism in today’s world, a number of literature sources were researched including novel, films, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, textbooks and magazine articles.