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My rating: 9/10 Goodreads Rating: 4.53/10 Genre: History, race Page Count: 544

Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize Journalist and Author who frequently writes about American history, society, and racism. After reading The Warmth of Other Suns, I appreciated her seamless writing style and immediately read Caste next. 

In Caste, Wilkerson draws on historical and societal parallels between the US, India, and Nazi Germany. She begins Caste by exploring the history of the caste system, a social hierarchy system in India. India’s caste system has five main groups, known as “varna”: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits. The groups are divided based on occupation and comprise sub-groups known as “jatis.” It is approximated that there are roughly 1,000 different castes within India, spread across various religions and social categories.

“A caste system is an artificial construction, a fixed and embedded ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of other groups.”

Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

In addition to India’s caste system, Wilkerson explores the caste system in Nazi Germany, which played a significant role in the events leading up to World War II. She then discusses the eight foundational pillars of the caste system, highlighting the various ways that the pillars underpin racism in America. Throughout the book, Wilkerson does an incredible job of showcasing the intricacies of racism and the caste system that interweave into American society. 

The most shocking tidbit that I learned about the caste system is that it originates from Hinduism. One of the pillars of caste is “divine will and laws of human nature.” In this pillar, Hindus believe (or once believed, since I’m not sure how widespread the belief is today) that an individual’s position in the caste system reflects their karma from their past life. Those in a higher caste – believed to have committed a lot of good deeds in their past life, which is why they are blessed in this one –  then use the argument of “bad karma” to justify superiority toward those in a lower caste. Although the caste system originated from Hinduism, it is widely practiced by various religions in India and is not strictly a religious issue but a social one.

To make matters even more interesting, Wilkerson draws parallels between caste in Hinduism and the manifestations of racism in Christianity. She references the story of Noah and his three sons post-flood in the Old Testament, detailed in the Book of Genesis. In a brief recounting, Ham is depicted as disrespecting his father, Noah, while unconscious. Upon awakening, Noah curses Canaan, the son of Ham. Some interpretations of this story have associated Ham’s descendants with African peoples, a connection that has unfortunately been misused to justify racist beliefs.

“In the American caste system, the signal of rank is what we call race, the division of humans.”

Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Although I enjoyed reading the book, I still felt slightly underwhelmed. I would’ve loved to read more about the history of India and its caste system; Wilkerson briefly discussed it within a chapter or two and only focused on the Dalits, the “lowest” caste group. 

Overall, Caste is a good book that I still recommend reading. Having read both Warmth of Other Suns and Caste, I found Warmth of Other Suns more enjoyable. However, Caste is much more brief and better suited for most people interested in history and race.