Caste

"Wilkerson [presents] . . . a portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more, . . . shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day, . . . [and] points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity"--Provided by publisher.