Caste : the origins of our discontents
(Book)
Author
Published
New York : Random House, [2020].
Format
Book
Edition
First edition.
Physical Desc
xvii, 476 pages ; 25 cm
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Status
Description
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Note | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Main Library - Adult | 305.5122 Wil | Checked Out | May 21, 2024 | |
Main Library - Adult | 305.5122 Wil | Hardcover | Checked Out | April 30, 2024 |
Oliver La Farge - Adult | 305.5122 Wil | Checked Out | May 2, 2024 | |
Southside - Adult | 305.5122 Wil | Checked Out | April 27, 2024 |
More Details
Published
New York : Random House, [2020].
Edition
First edition.
Language
English
Notes
General Note
"Oprah's book club, 2020"--Book jacket.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
""As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power -- which groups have it and which do not. In this book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people -- including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball's Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others -- she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity"--,Provided by the publisher.
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