Key themes
- The caste system as America's unacknowledged operating system
- Comparison with India and Nazi Germany — what each reveals about the others
- The physical and psychological cost of maintaining caste
About this book
American racism reframed as a caste system, compared with India and Nazi Germany; ambitious and resonant.
Published in 2020, Caste was immediately a bestseller and was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club. It won the National Book Award in 2020.
Discussion questions
- Wilkerson argues that the term 'racism' is inadequate — that what America has is a caste system as rigid and as cruel as India's or as Nazi Germany's. How does this framework help — and where does it strain?
- The comparison with Nazi Germany is the book's most controversial move. What does Wilkerson achieve with it — and what are the risks of this comparison?
- Wilkerson shows that maintaining a caste system damages everyone in it — including those at the top. How does she make this argument — and is it convincing?
- The book is part history, part sociology and part memoir. How does Wilkerson's personal experience in the text function — does it deepen or personalise the argument?
- Caste was published in 2020, the year of George Floyd's murder and the global reckoning it triggered. How does knowing its moment of publication shape how you read it?
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