Casteist View On Casteism

Over a million people continue to suffer discrimination, degrading treatment, and violence because of caste association. The caste system is based on structural inequalities between high and low cast untouchables involving social isolation and exclusion from participation in social, political, and economic developments of society.Dr. Susan Bayly, an expert in the field, defines caste as not the

Hinduism reinforces the caste system, which is a "division of society into social classes that are created by birth or occupation" and it is a "prevalent social system of Hinduism" (Molloy 90). Thus, class and race are both elements affected by the caste system. There are different castes, or social classes, and there are also subcastes. Despite the caste being permanent for one's life, it's not to say that those in lower castes cannot move up to a higher caste. This is where the concept of rebirth comes into Hinduism, which is the idea that an individual can make certain choices in their lives, good or bad, and this can affect what caste they will be reborn into.

The caste system has been extremely stable in India for over two thousand years. It is only since the more modern, independent state of India was formed that the system has come under any scrutiny at all. It is presently outlawed, but many of the practices, attitudes and traditions remain ingrained in Hindu society (University of Wyoming, 1997).

For the presentation, I focused on the ethical issues that can be defended by policing and imprisonment. I used the text about mass incarceration by Alexander to support my thoughts and views. From the “Rebirth of a Caste” a question that occurred to me is whether or not it is ethical to create a war on drugs for political gain. I believe the racism aspect of policing began long before the rates of incarceration increased. From the text people believed that “Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of civil disobedience was causing an increase in crime, [as well as] civil rights protests being depicted as criminal rather than political protests”(Pg 41). Everyone has the right to protest as long as it is not violent, however, society depicted these protests for equal rights as criminal. This could be caused by their perspectives as a change in society was massive due to the abolition of slavery and Jim Crow Laws. On top of this, the “media frenzy the [war on drugs] campaign inspired simply could not have come at a worse time for African Americans” according to Alexander (Pg 50). The media reinforced stereotypes by featuring the black women as crack whore and men as predators. It is not ethical to use racism for media attention but African Americans were an easy target. However, Nixon states that “every citizen possesses an inherent right to decide for himself which laws to obey and when to disobey them” (Pg 41). The statement directly relates to Aristotle’s view on ethics that

Historically, India was under British rule until 1950. Many people in India felt that during British rule they were powerless (Beteille, 2010). All of the problems in the country were blamed on this helplessness (Beteille, 2010). When India became independent and developed its own constitution, a large amount of emphasis was placed on the role of government in solving social problems (Beteille, 2010). During British rule, many customs and practices in India were based on the Hindu religion (Beteille, 2010). The British left those in place, neither making them unlawful nor supporting them (Beteille, 2010). When the new government was established, the caste system that had so sharply defined India was declared unlawful (Beteille, 2010). While this was a step in the

The term “Caste” comes from the Latin word “castus” which means “pure”. This term is used to refer to someone whose parents are of different races. The basis of them being raised in a different culture is to properly educate them to fit into white society, as well as to make them more European especially with the culture. However, instead of properly educating them, these children were trained to be domestic servants and stock men. Often, these children were neglected and were victims of abuse physically, emotionally and sexually by their adoptive white families.

Firstly, the caste system reflects the inequality of Indian society. Although religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, majority of Indian population follow Hinduism. Therefore, the dominance of Hinduism beliefs is common in India. There is a belief in caste system, as Brood said, “a system of hierarchical social organization”1. Hindu society is divided into four main classes; the priestly class, the warrior and administrator class, the producer class who is farmers and merchants and the servant class. The remaining group of people who is “outcastes” is called “untouchables” or dalit. Brodd recognizes “dalits continue to suffer terrible oppression, especially in rural communities in India”. I still could not imagine how terrible this bottom class suffers until reading Max Bearak article. All sufferings of Rohith Vemula, from the hardships of growing up poor, interactions with society in caste to scholarship revoke and suicide, happened tragically because he was born in a dalit family. This is the

Allison, I don’t agree with your statement that “I think it is interesting because, in America, we too have different classes of people, as well as in the world.”. As you are comparing Hinduisms caste system to American capitalism. In America, we have a lower, middle, and upper class. However, a person is not confined to any specific class in the United States. It is possible for someone from the lower class to be a part of the upper class through education or entrepreneurship. Whereas in the Hinduism caste system, the people are restricted to their class. A person that is born a Shudra could be a genius, but cannot become a doctor because of their class. The only exception of an individual leaving their caste system would be a woman.

When Sripathi’s sacred caste system is opposed by one of his own, he struggles to cope with the consequences. Firstly, when hearing the

David Peterson, professor of University of California, Irvine, “ It’s a propaganda technique used for people to believe in better tomorrow.” Apply this quote to India, Hinduism is a tool used to enforce caste system. Despite in a neoteric view, the caste system creates inequality and violates human right, we cannot deny its importance in sustaining the stability of Indian civilisation. During the long course of history, few uprises ever happened in this vast subcontinent with a diversity of races. One of the key idea of Buddhism is abrogate the caste system and view everyone equally.

What are the four major castes? What implications does the caste system have for everyday life? How does the caste system relate to Hindu ideas of spiritual life? “The four major castes of Hindu society are; seers ( brahmins ), administrators ( kshatriyas ), artisans or farmers ( vaishyas ), and followers or servants ( shudras)”( Smith 56). Smith writes, religious leaders, teachers, artists, and philosophers are members of the first caste, brahmins, khatriyas, the second caste, first known as warriors are now managers. The tillers of the land, the makers of bricks, and the builders are part of the third caste, vaishyas. The fourth caste is made up of servants, those who will take care of the other castes’ needs (56)”. While I was working in India, summer of 2001 and there at the invitation of the richest family in India and staying at one of their compounds, some of my co-workers and I were playing snooker. A young boy walked into the room where we were playing. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes before continuing to bed. Accompanied by a man of about twenty years old, the boy’s shudra, who had been the boy’s personal servant for ten or more years. The shudra’s purpose was to protect and serve his charge’s every need. Although there is inequality between castes, Smith denotes.“ within each caste, there is equality, opportunity, and social insurance ( 57)”. Although the text

Therefore Ambedkar is quite right in thinking that high caste Hindus have exploited and manipulated rules to favour their own selves for a great deal of time. The notion of pureblood has already been dismissed by a lot of anthropologists who have agreed that there are no pure bloods in India anymore and therefore the staunchness of caste should also be given up and abolished. It is a mere way of stagnating progress of individuals. One should look at the caste system, not in the top down approach, as it hides quite a few harsh realities about it, but in a bottom up approach to understand the difficulties faced in a daily life. Though I would not support banishing religion as it sets a norm for the society to function in a certain way, otherwise there would be no differences between us and the savages, but these severe complexities that is the caste system should be definitely be

According to Indianchild.com the India caste system is a hierarchical society. In the Indian caste system, no matter where you live or what religion you are

A few disadvantages of India’s social system are that Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social organizations. According to the US Department of State-Background Notes website, even though the government has declared the caste system as illegal, it still has a presence in occupational and societal hierarchies (The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, 2010).

Christian Dalits also suffer alienation from their fellow Hindu Dalits because of social and religious differences. Hindu Dalits see their fellow Christian Dalits as potential competitors in the share of reservations which are given by the government. This disfavor is primarily due to non-Christian Dalits seeing their Christian counterparts as already having benefited from and uplifted by missionary and ecclesiastical assistance. Many of them also see conversion to Christianity as a shameful surrender of one’s beliefs.