Andrew Gaertner
1 min readNov 29, 2022

--

Yes. I read this early in the month and I sort of sat with it. I want to know what to do about it now that I can see caste for what it is. I am also still stuck in Bernie-land with part of my mind thinking about class being the defining feature. I need to understand more about the other sub-divisions of caste and how they function in the USA, because if Heather McGhee is right (she is) about the mechanism for how racism hurts white people, then caste seems like part of that picture. The weird thing is that within most white populations there is the potential for mobility within the system - which makes me think it is class not caste at work. But perhaps that mobility is a myth or there might be class mobility but caste mobility is not accessible (for example with Jewish people they build might wealth and education for protection because their caste is fixed). I think the same holds for women in the USA, LGBTQ+, Latinx, Asian heritage, and Indigenous folks. But how about rural white folks or Southern Whites? In a sense they/we are "casted" among whites, especially Southern whites. I don't understand it.

--

--

Andrew Gaertner
Andrew Gaertner

Written by Andrew Gaertner

To live in a world of peace and justice we must imagine it first. For this, we need artists and writers. I write to reach for the edges of what is possible.

Responses (1)