As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we have a few book recommendations that to educate and enlighten readers who wish to better understand the origins and impact of racism and casteism in America.
CASTE, The Origin of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson, explores the overlap of racism and casteism, which she describes as “the granting or withholding of respect, status, honor, attention, privileges, resources, benefit of the doubt, and human kindness to someone on the basis of their perceived rank or standing in the hierarchy.” In CASTE, the Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns (a classic about the Great Migration), examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo provides another opportunity for readers to examine their own attitudes and beliefs about racism. Subtitled Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, the book provides an in-depth exploration of how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what can be done to engage more constructively.