> > I had a student in my class who wrote about being from a "low caste" background. > as a cultural Westerner, I'd be very loathe to speak much on the topic o

> > I had a student in my class who wrote about being from a "low caste" background. > as a cultural Westerner, I'd be very loathe to speak much on the topic of the Indian caste system, as [...] I'm certain I lack enough context and background to talk about it without it ending up being an exercise in projecting my own culture's dynamics onto theirs. It's the kind of conversation I think I probably need to do far more listening that talking in. Depending on the length and depth of that student's essay, the person you're responding to may have done enough listening to at least raise the topic and hear an honest opinion rather than being shut down as colonialist prejudist for merely asking the question At least, that's how it's written. Maybe they said a lot more, it's not like I was there, but I'm just going by the version that we can read here