To everyone whose response to this is "Oh yeah, that's just like racism and slavery in America." Please consider the following: Both racism and casteism have s

To everyone whose response to this is "Oh yeah, that's just like racism and slavery in America." Please consider the following: Both racism and casteism have similar results. That is, subjugation of certain peoples, violations of human rights, the preservation of the oppressing class, death--a whole host of evils. However, they have different sources, are codified differently, entrenched in different cultures, and therefore should be addressed and combated differently. Sujatha did not write a book to make people understand that American slavery (and its continuing echo) is bad. Furthermore, purely trying to understand Sujatha's story through the lens of American slavery is essentially hand-waving away the points she is trying to make.