4 ms·

I have no trouble believing that people carry their casteist prejudices to Silicon Valley or that they act out their casteism in vile ways. But when I read stu

by unmole 5y ago

I have no trouble believing that people carry their casteist prejudices to Silicon Valley or that they act out their casteism in vile ways. But when I read stuff that is so clearly nonsensical, I start questioning what embellishment factor I should I account for. > Questions about a person’s last name or home village can be seen as invasive attempts to identify caste. A pat on the shoulder might be a friendly greeting—or a search for a sacred thread that some dominant-caste Hindu men wear beneath their shirts. There is simply no way to figure out someone's caste by their home village. The overwhelming majority of Hindu men from dominant castes do not wear a sacred thread. If someone believes that a pat on the shoulder might be checking for a caste marker, it's very likely that they'll be seeing caste discrimination where none exists.

barry-cotter 5y ago
> There is simply no way to figure out someone's caste by their home village. Most Indian villages will have multiple jatis (sub-caste groups) and it’s perfectly normal for endogamy to be so complete that people’s families speak exactly the same language and the genetic distance between them is on the order of that between Swedes and Sicilians. Indian genetics is fascinating.
MisterSandman 5y ago
Your home village might not be all you need, but it's part of the overall investigation that some Indians do to "figure out" someone's caste. I've seen it happen to my dad all the time when we're in another city or country. Stop pretending like you don't know what I'm talking about. You're either lying to yourself or being ignorant. I'm sure many things in the article are embellished, but stop reducing other people's experiences.
- unmole 5y ago
  > but it's part of the overall investigation that some Indians do to "figure out" A village is next to useless in terms of identifying one's caste. > I've seen it happen to my dad all the time when we're in another city or country. How? There are more than six million villages in India. Do these people maintain a distributed database of some sort? > I'm sure many things in the article are embellished How much of it is embellishment is exactly what I'm wondering. > but stop reducing other people's experiences. Maybe come up with a convincing argument rather than ask people to take your word for it.

by unmole 5y ago

barry-cotter 5y ago

> There is simply no way to figure out someone's caste by their home village. Most Indian villages will have multiple jatis (sub-caste groups) and it’s perfectly normal for endogamy to be so complete that people’s families speak exactly the same language and the genetic distance between them is on the order of that between Swedes and Sicilians. Indian genetics is fascinating.

MisterSandman 5y ago

Your home village might not be all you need, but it's part of the overall investigation that some Indians do to "figure out" someone's caste. I've seen it happen to my dad all the time when we're in another city or country. Stop pretending like you don't know what I'm talking about. You're either lying to yourself or being ignorant. I'm sure many things in the article are embellished, but stop reducing other people's experiences.

unmole 5y ago
> but it's part of the overall investigation that some Indians do to "figure out" A village is next to useless in terms of identifying one's caste. > I've seen it happen to my dad all the time when we're in another city or country. How? There are more than six million villages in India. Do these people maintain a distributed database of some sort? > I'm sure many things in the article are embellished How much of it is embellishment is exactly what I'm wondering. > but stop reducing other people's experiences. Maybe come up with a convincing argument rather than ask people to take your word for it.