Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson
It was a heavy lift as expected. Her premise is that America has an unspoken caste system, which influences people’s behaviors and outcomes. Black Americans remain in the lowest caste, regardless of income or profession. She compares it to the two other notable caste systems—that of the Dalit ( “untouchables” ) in India, and the Jews (and a few others) in Nazi Germany. She makes a lot of convincing arguments. She shares the main “pillars” or rules of the caste structure, and provides many examples and stories of people (famous or not) being subjected to it. My only beef is that some of the anecdotes seem to be a bit of a stretch—she attributes interactions to be that of a dominant caste vs. a submissive one, when I’m thinking “maybe that person is just an asshole to everyone.” Easy for me to say I suppose, since these aren’t the type of things I have to deal with. But some of it leaves her a bit open to critics claiming she’s just “playing the race card.” Of course most of those people aren’t going to actually read the book, and would just dismiss the whole concept out of hand anyway.
Dave
kind of a big deal
I finished listening to The River of Doubt. It was interesting. So many bad choices. It felt a lot like some of the books about Antarctic expeditions gone wrong in that way.
I also finished reading Twelve Years a Slave. Not an enjoyable book for obvious reasons, but an important and powerful one. I remember the bits about Patsey as they were portrayed in the movie.
Time for some palate cleansing fluff. My next audiobook will be the new Britney Spears book. Looks like it's read by actress Michelle Williams, so that'll be interesting. Next Kindle book will be Something Wicked This Way Comes. I've read Dandelion Wine, but somehow never got around to this one. Looking forward to it.
Something Wicked This Way Comes.
This is one of my all-time favorite books. Enjoy!
You got 'em. Let the anticipation begin.
Started reading All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Elizabeth Comen. Seemed like a timely read.
I also keep trying to work my way through Lessons in Chemistry. It's not holding my interest but a few of my friends keep insisting I'll love it, so I'm trying to finish it to appease them. Always a great reason to finish a book. lol
In my FB non-fiction book group, there have been a few posted on this subject. I can provide titles, but maybe you’ve had your fill with this one—probably a lot of the same info.
Lord of the Manor
I am on the waitlist to get the Kindle version of this from the library.
If I could make a wish I think I'd pass
If I could give you my copy, I would.
We'll see how I feel after I finish this one. A non-fiction FB group sounds right in my wheelhouse, though.
A non-fiction FB group sounds right in my wheelhouse, though.
I mentioned it earlier, it's a public group just called "Serious Non-Fiction Books." Though people have widely varied opinions on that definition. Probably 80% of what people post is stuff I'd never read. People LOVE their military history! And oh man, anything political or related to race, gender, Israel/Palestine, etc. gets flooded with the kind of toxic comment thread you'd expect from a public Facebook group. Sometimes you've just gotta scroll on by. I've been posting my reads, but I didn't even consider posting Caste. Still, the group is pretty active so I've gotten some good recommendations from it.
The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dreamby Patrick Radden Keefe
I highly recommend this book. It explores the mass illegal immigration from Fujian province in China to the US, which peaked in the 1980s. The leaders of these human smuggling operations were referred to as “snakeheads.” From their base in New York City’s Chinatown, they arranged transportation for large groups to clandestinely enter the country, collecting substantial fees from the migrants and becoming very wealthy. They expanded into criminal empires with violent gangs. But their ultimate goal was to give people a better life—they could earn more in a month washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant in the US than in a year as a subsistence farmer in China. The book also tracks the FBI and INS investigations into these activities.
This was a fascinating story which I knew nothing about. It also raised many questions about immigration policy. I did not feel like the author took sides, but presented the issue from multiple perspectives—there is no question it is a complicated matter, both legally and morally. The migrants suffered tremendous abuse, often making the journey in conditions no better than slave ships. Many died during the trip, and others ended up killed in the US by what was basically the Chinese mafia. But all came willingly and desperately, and even those with miserable experiences said they’d do it again. They were clearly in violation of US immigration laws, but those continually changed over time. And many/most of the migrants ultimately became productive, taxpaying members of society.
The author also wrote Empire of Pain, about the Sackler family and Oxycontin, which I highly recommend as well.
The book I've read from this author was about The Troubles in Northern Ireland: Say Nothing. Another great one from him.
Thanks…I’ve seen the title but it didn’t register what the subject matter was. I’ll put it on my list, it’s another thing I haven’t read about in depth but I think would be worthwhile. Does he take a pretty evenhanded approach?
Yes, evenhanded. You come away being appalled at the useless violence from all the groups.
I finished the Britney Spears book. Hoo boy. The world has messed that girl up with a serious assist from her crazy family. The book itself could have used a little extra editing imo. It was messy and disorganized and all over the place. She’d talk about being afraid her family was trying to kill her, then in the next paragraph she was suicidal, then she was lonely and calling her mom for a visit. Her “little heart” was referenced so frequently I started to be annoyed. It’s a crazy story that I’m glad I listened to, just not packaged as well as it could have been. I hope she finds peace.
The first half straight up read like her wikipedia page. The second half was much better but still very scattered in nature. Not entirely unexpected, though.