Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy based on one’s birth that is tied to concepts of purity and social status. Its history, evolution and current state are complicated. A move to outlaw ...

One of Kshama Sawant’s earliest memories of the caste system was hearing her grandfather — a man she “otherwise loved very much” — utter a slur to summon their lower-caste maid. The Seattle City ...

Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, is the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, from which this essay is adapted; ...

Discrimination against individuals based on caste would seem to be a relic of the past. Even in India, where the caste system was most rigid, the practice has been officially banned since 1950.

America’s most prominent caste equity activist, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, was slated to give a talk at Google in April, for Dalit History Month. She was ready, she said, to explain to one of the ...

January is the month Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born, another leader Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and is marked by the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. February is Black History Month ...

Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and nonprofit organizations. She has conducted in-depth research on social and economic issues ...

Why do people defend social systems that oppress them? Why do the marginalized sometimes work to uphold structures and arrangements that limit their potential? These questions are not just ...