Two recent reads made me think again how the United States and India are similar.
" The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson which won the
numerous awards ,is a fascinating book which tracks a few African Americans who
migrated from America's deep
south to New York, Chicago
and Los Angeles.
Most of them were bright and educated but had to flee because of a lack of
opportunities and constantly fearing fearing for their lives from the
whites. The other read was a news item in the Hindu newspaper of
June 24th, which mentioned about a boy from a lower caste who had passed
the entrance examination for the Indian Institute of Technology- which has a
lower acceptance rate than MIT or Harvard. The article quoted him as
saying “I am the only one in my neighborhood to study this far, but no
one knows that I have cleared the IIT entrance. I have not made it known in my
village, as life would be made difficult for me and my family by persons from
the dominant caste " In both cases the superior " caste" wanted to ensure its economic status was not threatened even if it meant resorting to life threatening violence.
The race discrimination in America did not end with the Civil War when the slaves were emancipated. It took another century for it to formally end through legislation and through non-violent means. However prior to that with the growing urban developments of manufacturing and business hubs on the Northeast, West Coast and the Midwest, the smart , talented, educated and gifted blacks were provided an opportunity to move to the cities where they were able to live free from fear. From the early 1900's to the 1970's approximately seven million blacks moved out of the South. While not totally free from discrimination, they were able to pursue jobs and careers which helped them climb the economic ladder. The case studies from the book track the life of a doctor, a train conductor and factory worker, and how they ended up with a better life than if they had stayed on in Mississippi or Florida or in other Southern States.
If Hitler had won the war we would have witnessed a global race/caste system in place with the "Aryans" at the top.In India, centuries ago some one with a similar mind set set up a caste system which still exists today.
There is a pyramid of castes with the Brahmins ( or the priestly caste) right at the top, followed by the Kshatriyas ( rulers/warriors), Vaisyas ( traders/merchants),Sudras (unskilled worker) and the Pariah/Dalits/Harijans ( untouchables) being at the bottom of the heap. According to a National Geographic article there were about 160 million " untouchables" in India. The discrimination they faced was no less than that of the blacks in America. They lived and to some extent still do, " in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense". This occurs despite the fact that untouchability is banned in India's constitution.
In a pattern similar to that of the United States, partly with the equivalent of the affirmative actions implemented by the government, the smarter of the untouchables like the successful IIT entrant , are using education to move out of the villages to cities.With the growing urbanization , which has picked up pace over the last two decades and is likely to accelerate, there is starting to be a gradual shift of the "untouchables" to the urban areas where discrimination is less of an issue. This in turn is leading to a shortage of cheap labor in the rural areas, where the upper caste is now forced to work in the fields, or pay the lower caste a higher salary and treat them with respect.
In America it took another fifty years after the legislation was passed for an African American to be elected President, although some would argue that discrimination is not totally dead. In India even though we have had a President K R Narayanan , a Dalit from Kerala , who served in the Indian Foreign Service, discrimination is still a problem, particularly in the rural areas. This after almost 50 years of independence. Hopefully now as the country goes through rapid urbanization, we will see the decline of caste discrimination.
The race discrimination in America did not end with the Civil War when the slaves were emancipated. It took another century for it to formally end through legislation and through non-violent means. However prior to that with the growing urban developments of manufacturing and business hubs on the Northeast, West Coast and the Midwest, the smart , talented, educated and gifted blacks were provided an opportunity to move to the cities where they were able to live free from fear. From the early 1900's to the 1970's approximately seven million blacks moved out of the South. While not totally free from discrimination, they were able to pursue jobs and careers which helped them climb the economic ladder. The case studies from the book track the life of a doctor, a train conductor and factory worker, and how they ended up with a better life than if they had stayed on in Mississippi or Florida or in other Southern States.
If Hitler had won the war we would have witnessed a global race/caste system in place with the "Aryans" at the top.In India, centuries ago some one with a similar mind set set up a caste system which still exists today.
There is a pyramid of castes with the Brahmins ( or the priestly caste) right at the top, followed by the Kshatriyas ( rulers/warriors), Vaisyas ( traders/merchants),Sudras (unskilled worker) and the Pariah/Dalits/Harijans ( untouchables) being at the bottom of the heap. According to a National Geographic article there were about 160 million " untouchables" in India. The discrimination they faced was no less than that of the blacks in America. They lived and to some extent still do, " in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense". This occurs despite the fact that untouchability is banned in India's constitution.
In a pattern similar to that of the United States, partly with the equivalent of the affirmative actions implemented by the government, the smarter of the untouchables like the successful IIT entrant , are using education to move out of the villages to cities.With the growing urbanization , which has picked up pace over the last two decades and is likely to accelerate, there is starting to be a gradual shift of the "untouchables" to the urban areas where discrimination is less of an issue. This in turn is leading to a shortage of cheap labor in the rural areas, where the upper caste is now forced to work in the fields, or pay the lower caste a higher salary and treat them with respect.
In America it took another fifty years after the legislation was passed for an African American to be elected President, although some would argue that discrimination is not totally dead. In India even though we have had a President K R Narayanan , a Dalit from Kerala , who served in the Indian Foreign Service, discrimination is still a problem, particularly in the rural areas. This after almost 50 years of independence. Hopefully now as the country goes through rapid urbanization, we will see the decline of caste discrimination.
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