Sec 03: Contemplations on Isabel Wilkerson's Caste (2020) by Judi Freeman https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj Post BRIEFLY/SUCCINCTLY on this Padlet: (1) why you think should others read Caste (2) the most powerful story/anecdote/observation/quote that you discovered EITHER in your assigned section OR in one of the summarized sections you looked at during the breakout room session. en-us 2020-12-20 23:07:10 UTC 2020-12-21 18:22:02 UTC hello@padlet.com The Difficulty of Reconciliation bwright283 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036497905 A major point in Chapter 22 is the point that reconciliation is entirely in the hands of the perpetrator, and the victims of the countless crimes and trespasses are forced to forgive. Black people are supposed to accept that there is nothing racist in modern society, and going against that narrative devalues their entire race in the eyes of white people. A black person is supposed to forgive everything white people have done, and are not to expect any forgiveness from white people. ]]> 2020-12-21 17:56:23 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036497905 Caste is a good book-Ben Z https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036498988 People should read Caste because it is a very succinct and clear breakdown of how there is a Caste system in America and how it compares to other systems around the world.

The most powerful anecdote I found was that where people saw lynchings as so common an occurance that they would make and send postcards of lynchings they attended to friends and family. It was so disgusting that the Postmaster General had to not accept them as valid mail anymore, so instead they just put them into an envelope to mail.]]> 2020-12-21 17:56:50 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036498988 I also think caste is a good book https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036501354 a really interesting point i found in the chapter 25 summary was the quote "The symbolism of Obama’s election was a profound loss to whites’ status." Thought it was a very strong claim that seemed from the summary to be backed well. Though not everyone would agree with the book if they read it the ideas it brings up are essential to at least think about.]]> 2020-12-21 17:58:01 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036501354 Caste is very insightful and eyeopening as well as describes real stories from people which are good examples of whats going on in America you might've not realized syoung123 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036502543 A quote I read about in chapter 14 in my section was “We are told over and over again in society not to judge a book by its cover, not to assume what is inside before we have a chance to read it. Yet humans size up and make assumptions about other humans based upon what they look like many times a day. We prejudge complicated breathing beings in ways we are told never to judge inanimate objects.”
Another point I found interesting was in chapter 6 summary is that the caste system is a invisible entity in which lives inside of our society that we can not defeat]]> 2020-12-21 17:58:39 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036502543 erice35 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036506217 I think people should read caste because it's a really insightful book that allows you to learn about different people's experiences in the lower caste. Some of the stuff mentioned I had a basic idea of already, but you read about different stories that make you become more mindful of other people's situations. A powerful quote that I read in my section was, “The human meaning of the caste for those who live it is power and vulnerability, privilege and oppression, honor and denigration, plenty and want, reward and deprivation, security and anxiety.” (Page 164). I think this quote really shows you a great perspective from two very different levels of the caste system.

]]> 2020-12-21 18:00:31 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036506217 judgement kkiessling https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036507482 I think people should read caste because there are several quotes that are eye-opening, such as one from chapter 14 which says, "We prejudge complicated breathing beings in ways we are told never to judge inanimate objects.”. This quote stuck out to me as a reason for others to read this because it is an example of how people will judge others based on what's on the outside, not what's on the inside, which is why I think the world is so hateful.


]]> 2020-12-21 18:01:11 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036507482 good book should read maybe jdietch https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036507525 People should read Caste so that they can have an awakening and reconsider what the racial caste system really means and how it impacts everything around you. In chapter 31, the author's friend had a sort of awakening to the small types of racial injustice that happen in our world. Here's a cool quote: “And part of me, the biggest part of me, was happy to see her righteous indignation on my behalf, on her own behalf, and on behalf of all the people who endure these indignities every day. It would be a better world if everyone could feel what she felt for once, and awaken.” pp 369]]> 2020-12-21 18:01:13 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036507525 tzhou4 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508319 Others should read the Caste because it makes you think about what you know and about what you or others around you may be experiencing experiencing.

The story that stuck out to me the most, while reading chapters 28+ 29, was the fact that a Nobel Prize winner- Leon Lederman- had to sell his Nobel Prize to pay for his mounting medical bills. The Nobel Prize is such a prestigious award, yet he couldn't even afford his medical fees. It really makes you think out the healthcare system here, and how anyone would think America is so good]]> 2020-12-21 18:01:40 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508319 osullivan5 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508921 I think others should read caste because it's important to recognize how our current systems of oppression came about in order to fully dismantle them. Caste offers insightful commentary on the inequalities that plague the United States. As Wilkerson put it, “The country cannot become whole until it confronts what was not a chapter in [this nation’s] history, but the basis of its economic and social order.” Our country cannot face these inequalities or fully understand how our nation functions without recognizing this history and oppression. ]]> 2020-12-21 18:02:01 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508921 Cecelia Faller https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508934 Caste is eyeopening, and I think it is super important to acknowlage that America is build on a caste system

Something I found very interesting was that Wilkerson could tell someone's caste by looking at them and the subtle mannerisms they displayed ]]> 2020-12-21 18:02:02 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508934 Caste is a very informational and well made book hpoynter https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508935 People should go and read caste due to the amount of stories, experiences, and personal opinions that are portrayed throughout the novel. It is very insightful and can teach you a lot. One quote that I found very interesting was, "The lowest caste was to remain in its place like an ill-fitting suit that must constantly be altered, seams and darts re-sewn to fit the requirements of the upper caste, going back to the enslavers who resented displays of industriousness and intellect in the people they saw themselves as owning" page 231. I think this quote is very eye opening and is a great way to express the lower caste.]]> 2020-12-21 18:02:02 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036508935 atran411 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036509130 1. Others should read Caste because it puts current history (Black Lives Matter vs ALM, racial injustice, police brutality, white privilege, do white people have culture) in perspective and provides American citizens with a more concise understanding of the history of hierarchy in this country. This is history that all Americans must face (heh get it) so that we may all reach the same level on understanding on hierarchy, and in doing so, we are then able to move forward as a country.
2. The most powerful quote I found today was "“If we have been trained to see humans in the language of race, then caste is the underlying grammer we encode as children, when learning our mother tongue.” (page 18) ]]> 2020-12-21 18:02:08 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036509130 agoncalvesda https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036510389 I think everyone should give Caste a read for its eye opening outlook on how those in the lower caste where treated. A powerful quote I discovered in chapter 28/29 was: “this is a civilization searching for its humanity...It dehumanized others to build its civilization. Now it needs to find its own” pg 359]]> 2020-12-21 18:02:49 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036510389 pchen141 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036511806 1. I think that others should read Caste because it is an eye-opening dive into how racism in the US is much more insidious and pervasive than most people think, and how it actually parallels other caste systems that are commonly abhorred and reviled. It delves into the history of marginalized peoples in the US, something that is not often discussed in school history classes, which are almost always overwhelmingly white/Euro-centric.

2. A powerful quote that I discovered was in the very first chapter, where a white man in Portland, Oregon had stabbed three other white men who was defending a few Muslim women from his harmful epithets. The white man said, "“I’m a Patriot. I hope everyone I stabbed died," which I personally found very shocking, as I was horrified to realize that he actually believed himself to be in the right, and that it is the American way to disparage and harm non-white people, as well as any that support them.]]> 2020-12-21 18:03:32 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036511806 Emily Mai Chen https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036512922 1) Others should read Caste because it explores a territory in which many people in America never think about, and that is the systemic racism that is very much built into our society. People do not usually associate how we are ranked in society in America as a caste system, but Wilkerson makes a compelling case that it very much is a caste system. She points out the many similarities between America and India's caste systems, and it is very eye-opening to read about and also hear from the perspectives of those in India that Wilkerson has met in her lifetime. I feel like more people need to read this book in order to gain a broader sense of how corrupted our system is as well. 
2) A powerful quote that I discovered while reading through people's summaries was in chapter 2: “If we have been trained to see humans in the language of race, then caste is the underlying grammer we encode as children, when learning our mother tongue” (18). I think this quote really empowers this idea that this distinction between people stems from society and really is implemented into our heads from a young age through what is taught at home or even at school. When you have a whole society built on this foundation of ideas, it can be pretty hard to break it apart and fix it. ]]> 2020-12-21 18:04:07 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036512922 Others should read caste because it allows you to gain so much more perspective. It's enlightening for every one to read, as it covers current topics our society faces today. Everyone should read this, no matter what race, gender, or any sort of background, etc. The most powerful quote I learned from while reading today was “When those in the basement begin rising to the floors above them, surveillance begins, the whole building is threatened. Thus caste can pit the basement-dwellers against themselves in a flooding basement, creating an illusion, a panic even, that their only competition is one another” (Wilkerson 238). ahoey7 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036513966 2020-12-21 18:04:39 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036513966 ldelaski https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036516003 People should read caste because it is eye opening and well written. A quote that I found interesting was “The symbolism of Obama’s election was a profound loss to whites’ status.” Pg 315 ]]> 2020-12-21 18:05:43 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036516003 I think people should read Caste because it stressed the fact that it'd be impossible for those on the bottom to end the system on their own, they need the help of those higher up by acknowledging they got where they are on the back of someone else. Also, everyone will eventually be victims of the caste, everyone should want to end it. Something that stuck out to me in the epilogue was the story about Einstein and how even after he barely escaped the Nazis by moving to America, he didn't give in to the caste now that he was higher up than the minorities here, he used his new privilege as a white man to make his black neighbors' lives better and try to take down the racism that pushed them to the bottom. https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036519022 2020-12-21 18:07:18 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036519022 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036520529 Others should read Caste because it is very eye opening and insightful into a different perspective. We should all be able to put ourselves into other's shoes. 
I found it interesting that once Trump was elected the US changed to a place of hatred and even seeing the American flag hung up gave off iffy vibes. ]]> 2020-12-21 18:08:04 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036520529 ayang122 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036520922 While I have not read the entirety of Isabel Wilkerson's Caste, The portion I did read shed some important and insightful light upon the basis of Caste structure, and how it is maintained and perpetuated by those at the top. This is important because, whether we like to admit it or not, our society is fundamentally built upon caste systems that value certain groups over others. It is therefore our duty as members of such a system to educate ourselves in hopes that things will get better. 

From Page #271
"A person in this [dominant] group “feels: ‘even thought I am poor and uncultured I am somebody important because i belong to the most admirable group in the world---I am white’; or ‘I am Aryan’”]]> 2020-12-21 18:08:16 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036520922 lzulps https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036536119 Caste is an amazing book that everyone should read. It puts historical moments into perspective and also modernizes them, comparing them to current day situations, which made  them easily understandable and also shocking. Just from reading one chapter alone, it opened by eyes to new ideas and started new discussions among my friends and family. One quote that I discovered was ”In a psychic way, the people dying of despair could be said to be dying of the end of an illusion, an awakening to the holes in an article of faith that an inherited, unspoken superiority, a natural deservedness over subordinated castes, would assure their place in the hierarchy.” (pg. 181) The idea that “subordinate” castes can dominate the people higher up threatens those who are higher. The quote magnifies how particular castes have been above others in an unspoken  “natural way”, as if they deserve it - pointed out to be all an illusion.



]]> 2020-12-21 18:18:00 UTC https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036536119 Wow. aweiss62 https://padlet.com/freemanjud/3c23h7eo44206pdj/wish/1036538051 1) This book definitely needs to be read by others. It is key to beginning to learn more about the racial disparities and issues present in the United States, from past to present. Although it is indeed named “Caste,” and it is aware of this problem, people still do believe that it is an exact comparison to the Indian caste system. It makes reference of it, explaining that it is not. It uses the basic principles of a caste and applies it to the racial hierarchy present in the United States. To become a better citizen and to become more antiracist, this book is a must read.
 
2) Talking about the book in depth, the most powerful thing I found and as a result, took away, from reading my sections and skimming through the summaries was this quote from Pillar #8 in part 3: “It was the spring of 1944, the same year that a black boy was forced to jump to his death, in front of his stricken father, over the christmas card the boy had sent to a white girl at work. In that atmosphere, a sixteen-year-old African-American girl thought about what should befall Hitler. She won the student essay contest with a single sentence: ‘Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America’” (Page 164). I have no other words to elaborate on this quote. It is HIGHLY self-explanatory and needs no other analysis or reaction besides wow. Unsurprising but phrased PERFECTLY.
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