Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste” pushes the boundaries on the cross-sections of the past and the present, intertwining the balance between our history and the course of our actions in the present. Wilkerson eloquently introduces the idea that the actions of our ancestors are still affecting our mentalities, and how we speak. Furthermore, she uses caste to explain that we are at the tip of the iceberg, and that there is much more to these topics under the surface, poetically dissecting the nuances of our history and how we are individually impacted by it.
My Indian identity has introduced me to the Caste system, as my culture is deep-rooted in this system. The Caste system in India is built on the idea that one group of people, the Brahmins, are
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American- Born-Confused-Desi as they call us, is the label we carry, resulting in people like me feeling disconnected from the country we were born in and grew up in, and an even greater disconnect from the country that our culture, heritage, and ethnicity is from. We are foreigners in both places always trying to fit in, but never quite succeeding. Wilkerson astutely articulates this feeling stating, “None of us are ourselves” (pg 53). Her ability to explain that we are all impressions, interactions, and pieces of every person that comes through our lives, expresses how we are so influenced by the actions of others. I have attempted to decipher the fragments of my own identity but usually come up empty, leaving me feeling isolated that I do not identify with either of my supposed …show more content…
A perfect example of this is my hometown; I live in an upper-middle-class town that is mostly White and Asian and has one of the best high schools in the state. However, the next town over is an impoverished area with a below-average graduation rate and a predominantly Hispanic and Black population. When driving between the two towns, the difference is incredibly jarring, and it is very clear which town gets more funding and more attention. Even with the towns being in the same county, there is a stark difference and it calls into question when discrimination becomes systemic. The allocation of resources between the two towns is disproportionate and even though the more poverty-stricken town needs those resources more, my more affluent town reaps the