3 ms·
As a white male who's lived in the US most of his life, I confess that I read these articles about caste-based racism and comments with a measure of disbelief,
by khazhoux 4y ago
As a white male who's lived in the US most of his life, I confess that I read these articles about caste-based racism and comments with a measure of disbelief, because to me it is entirely invisible. Mind you, I first learned about India's discriminatory caste system in high school, so I've been aware of it and I know it's real, but it exists in an alternate dimension I simply can't see. I've never noticed people asking where someone is from or their diet, and I've never considered that a last name might be telling me about a person's "status."
But... I don't want to learn which last names are low or high caste. I don't want to learn which regions are low or high. I rather appreciate my ignorance on the matter.
- bergenty 4y agoTo be honest, as an Indian origin person I’ve never seen or heard any of this either and I’ve been in tech for around 15 years.
- Barrin92 4y agoif you really don't want to know don't read this reply, but if I told you a North-Eastern, teetotalling Anglo Protestant with a learned Mid-Atlantic accent is part of America's very own Brahmin caste while someone with a thick southern drawl isn't you're going to be mad at me for spilling the beans? The US has its own very fine-calibrated class system from blue-blood to redneck that pretty much everyone is aware of.
- quadrifoliate 4y agoYeah, I'm Indian origin and don't give a shit about caste (and honestly, find it pretty hard to tell because I never ask), but it astonishes me to hear Americans drone on about how this is unbelievable and totally not something they'd ever do. Meanwhile, the same people seem to have no problem automatically discerning that someone living on the Upper East Side in NYC is high class and treating them several times better than someone who comes from Random Town, Kansas.