Book notes | Caste
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is Isabel Wilkerson’s first book since her award-winning The Warmth of Other Suns published 10 years ago.
Most people think of India when the word caste is used. However, a caste system also exists in a number of countries, including the United States, and was practiced in Nazi Germany. The latter based its caste system on the Jim Crow laws of the United States and marveled that the United States had been able to maintain these laws across centuries.
To help the reader grasp the development and implementation of the caste system, Wilkerson provides eight pillars: divine will and laws of nature; heritability; endogamy and the control of marriage and mating; purity versus pollution; occupational hierarchy; dehumanization and stigma; terror and cruelty as means of enforcement; and, inherent superiority and inferiority of castes.
Woven with fact and history
Although caste is not an easy topic to explore, Wilkerson weaves her experiences and those of others with fact and history to help the reader grasp the extensive impact the caste system has had, and continues to have, in India and the United States. A brief ending chapter demonstrates a simple strategy—finding a common topic between a caste member and a person from the ruling caste to build a bridge and lessen the impact of the caste system. As she does in her first book, Wilkerson captures the reader so that one cannot put the book down. This book is a must read.
The UMRA book club members had a good discussion on this important book. It was considered well written. Readers acknowledged that there is a hierarchical system in the U.S. like the caste system described in the book. All too often, people try to keep people in their place or, as one person suggested, there is a need for having a scapegoat. One member recommended the book’s use as a textbook in college sociology courses. Several members said they liked the way the author personalized the information with her own run-ins with racism.
—Mariah Snyder, Book Club I member
UMRA Book Club I to meet May 21
Fri, May 21 2021, 2pm
Mariah Snyder will lead the discussion of Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 21. More …
This book club currently has 16 members, a number that works well for our discussions. Contact Pat Tollefson at [email protected] for more information, including suggestions for starting a new book club.
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.