Color, Race, Class, Caste and Politics – What pulls us together and what tears us apart?
Poster for Origin movie
Color, Race, Class, Caste and Politics – What pulls us together and what tears us apart?
This is a short blog post containing three recommendations:
1. Read the book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, published in 2020.
2. See the movie Origin, out now in theaters, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson, alongside Jon Bernthal as her husband.
3. Read the book The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, published in 2017.
Caste book cover
CASTE
Caste is a book which explains the conflicts between Blacks and Whites in the U.S. as a matter of caste, not race or other factors, although they are intertwined. The book compares the systemic discrimination that occurs in the U.S. with the demonization by the Nazis of the Jews and the centuries-old caste system of India, which continues to this day to denigrate those of the Untouchable class.
ORIGIN
Origin is a movie which explores the process by which author Isabel Wilkerson decided to explore the topic of caste and put her findings into a book. It includes historical events that were part of Wilkerson’s thinking and research, interviews of the author with sources who expanded her understanding of caste, and remarkable photography from Germany and India illustrating how Wilkerson sought a better understanding of the effects of caste in those countries. The movie is a tremendous supplement to the book Caste because it helps the audience understand the motivation and process of the author and it illustrates many of the stories included in the book, making them even more powerful than the words alone.
The Origin entry in Wikipedia provides an introduction to the film. You might also want to read this movie review by Robert Daniels.
Cover of The Women in the Castle book
THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE
Jessica Shattuck’s 2017 novel, The Women in the Castle, is written from the perspective of three individual German women and their families who lived during Nazi times in Germany. The novel illustrates the thoughts and actions of women from different social groups to the pressure to conform to Nazi practices and the psychological effects on them of the path they each chose to take. Using Wilkerson’s analysis, we can think of the characters in the book as coming from different castes and reacting to the political situation differently on account of their backgrounds.
There is a 6 minute interview with author Jessica Shattuck on the NPR website. The back of the paperback edition of the book also contains information about the author, 11 discussion questions, and a bonus chapter which provides additional background for a portion of the story.
Thank you for reading my blog post. Here are some other posts you might find interesting.
RELATED BOOKS AND COMMENTARY
The Common Sense Reflections Blog has several more posts on related topics. Take a look:
Filling Gaps in Knowledge of Civil Rights History – How the Word is Passed, a Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America.
Black Cake, A Story of Family Secrets – a novel.
I Loved this Book – A More Perfect Union, a novel.
Understanding and Fighting Racism – How to be an Antiracist.
Remove Indian Mascots and Names from Schools.
Evolving Metaphors: Salad, Silo or Sailboat? We need discussion - not gag order.