Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Five years ago today, with the world on lockdown and political upheaval here at home, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents came onto the public stage and managed to find a way into your hearts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to see my second-born book embraced so widely by you. On this day, no bookstores or libraries were open. You found the book anyway, in part because it helped to explain what had defied explanation, training a searchlight on the ruptures we have inherited as a nation. It seemed that, after a decade of research, this was the exact moment it was intended to come into the world. You, the readers, kept it on The New York Times bestsellers list for a total of 79 weeks in hardcover and paperback, making it No. 1 in Nov. 2020. Thank you to every person who turned the pages of this book, who posted on social, who waited on library holds, who read it for book club, gave it to friends, family and co-workers and allowed this history to shape how you see the world. Thank you for recognizing that caste is not theoretical, but is, in fact, built into the foundation of our country. It is playing out before our eyes as we observe divisions that strain comprehension until you look at the x-ray that caste provides us. As many of you have said, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It took decades of synthesis to produce Caste. I did not merely research it as a concept, I inhaled and inhabited it. The book was both historical excavation and prophecy, and so much of what was contained within its pages has heartbreakingly come to pass. Anyone who has read Caste likely already knows why things around us are unfolding as they are. There could be no more urgent a time to understand the origins of our discontents as we seek to find ways to move forward. The message of Caste is about love more than anything — love within oneself to emanate to the rest of our species, no matter the rung and role society casts us in. I am more certain than ever, that, if our species could find a way to transcend these manufactured divisions, a world without caste would set everyone free. —— Scroll to the end to see a few of the “pinch me” moments in the rollout of this book.
Few symbols of America are as iconic and instantly recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, and yet many Americans may not know of its origins and connection — like so much of American history — to slavery and the Civil War. The statue was conceived by a French abolitionist who had been watching from across the Atlantic as the Union fought the Confederacy in the costliest war on American soil. After the Union won and ended slavery in 1865, the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society, Edouard Laboulaye, proposed a colossal monument as a gift to the United States from the people of France to celebrate the U.S. centennial and the triumph of freedom that the Union victory represented. The abolitionist enlisted sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi to design it. The sculptor, in turn, enlisted engineer Gustav Eiffel, years before he built the Eiffel Tower, to devise a framework that could withstand the winds of New York Harbor. What is less known is that early models of the statue gave greater prominence to what the abolitionists intended the statue to represent. Renderings from the 1870s show that Bartholdi envisioned the statue holding broken chains in her left hand. The Frenchmen used those images to seek U.S support for the pedestal the statue needed— just as the country was moving away from the lessons of the Civil War and headed toward Jim Crow. By the time the statue was dedicated in 1886, the broken chains and shackle that the sculptor originally intended had been replaced with a tablet inscribed “July IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776), the date we commemorate today. Bartholdi managed to keep this original element in a less visible location: He placed a shackle and two broken chains at the Statue of Liberty’s feet. Thus the statue, humbling and magnificent, is a study in contradictions — a woman of classical European form conceived in the aftermath of the American Civil War, erected on a pedestal on the eve of Jim Crow, when women and Black citizens had few rights and with the very spark that led to her creation — the end of slavery — virtually hidden in the chains beneath the robes at her feet. How interwoven we are as a nation.
Few symbols of America are as iconic and instantly recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, and yet many Americans may not know of its origins and connection — like so much of American history — to slavery and the Civil War. The statue was conceived by a French abolitionist who had been watching from across the Atlantic as the Union fought the Confederacy in the costliest war on American soil. After the Union won and ended slavery in 1865, the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society, Edouard Laboulaye, proposed a colossal monument as a gift to the United States from the people of France to celebrate the U.S. centennial and the triumph of freedom that the Union victory represented. The abolitionist enlisted sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi to design it. The sculptor, in turn, enlisted engineer Gustav Eiffel, years before he built the Eiffel Tower, to devise a framework that could withstand the winds of New York Harbor. What is less known is that early models of the statue gave greater prominence to what the abolitionists intended the statue to represent. Renderings from the 1870s show that Bartholdi envisioned the statue holding broken chains in her left hand. The Frenchmen used those images to seek U.S support for the pedestal the statue needed— just as the country was moving away from the lessons of the Civil War and headed toward Jim Crow. By the time the statue was dedicated in 1886, the broken chains and shackle that the sculptor originally intended had been replaced with a tablet inscribed “July IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776), the date we commemorate today. Bartholdi managed to keep this original element in a less visible location: He placed a shackle and two broken chains at the Statue of Liberty’s feet. Thus the statue, humbling and magnificent, is a study in contradictions — a woman of classical European form conceived in the aftermath of the American Civil War, erected on a pedestal on the eve of Jim Crow, when women and Black citizens had few rights and with the very spark that led to her creation — the end of slavery — virtually hidden in the chains beneath the robes at her feet. How interwoven we are as a nation.
Few symbols of America are as iconic and instantly recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, and yet many Americans may not know of its origins and connection — like so much of American history — to slavery and the Civil War. The statue was conceived by a French abolitionist who had been watching from across the Atlantic as the Union fought the Confederacy in the costliest war on American soil. After the Union won and ended slavery in 1865, the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society, Edouard Laboulaye, proposed a colossal monument as a gift to the United States from the people of France to celebrate the U.S. centennial and the triumph of freedom that the Union victory represented. The abolitionist enlisted sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi to design it. The sculptor, in turn, enlisted engineer Gustav Eiffel, years before he built the Eiffel Tower, to devise a framework that could withstand the winds of New York Harbor. What is less known is that early models of the statue gave greater prominence to what the abolitionists intended the statue to represent. Renderings from the 1870s show that Bartholdi envisioned the statue holding broken chains in her left hand. The Frenchmen used those images to seek U.S support for the pedestal the statue needed— just as the country was moving away from the lessons of the Civil War and headed toward Jim Crow. By the time the statue was dedicated in 1886, the broken chains and shackle that the sculptor originally intended had been replaced with a tablet inscribed “July IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776), the date we commemorate today. Bartholdi managed to keep this original element in a less visible location: He placed a shackle and two broken chains at the Statue of Liberty’s feet. Thus the statue, humbling and magnificent, is a study in contradictions — a woman of classical European form conceived in the aftermath of the American Civil War, erected on a pedestal on the eve of Jim Crow, when women and Black citizens had few rights and with the very spark that led to her creation — the end of slavery — virtually hidden in the chains beneath the robes at her feet. How interwoven we are as a nation.
Made it to the big time — Number 66 across, in the New York Times Daily Crossword, which has been stumping people since 1942. Delighted for the intellectual shoutout because Caste explains so much of what is unfolding around us, and I wish I could download its contents into every human on the planet. At times like this, I think of my father, who so loved newspapers, but mostly of my anagram-and-Scrabble-loving mother, who would have gotten such a kick out of this. Nothing but gratitude….
Made it to the big time — Number 66 across, in the New York Times Daily Crossword, which has been stumping people since 1942. Delighted for the intellectual shoutout because Caste explains so much of what is unfolding around us, and I wish I could download its contents into every human on the planet. At times like this, I think of my father, who so loved newspapers, but mostly of my anagram-and-Scrabble-loving mother, who would have gotten such a kick out of this. Nothing but gratitude….
Made it to the big time — Number 66 across, in the New York Times Daily Crossword, which has been stumping people since 1942. Delighted for the intellectual shoutout because Caste explains so much of what is unfolding around us, and I wish I could download its contents into every human on the planet. At times like this, I think of my father, who so loved newspapers, but mostly of my anagram-and-Scrabble-loving mother, who would have gotten such a kick out of this. Nothing but gratitude….
Made it to the big time — Number 66 across, in the New York Times Daily Crossword, which has been stumping people since 1942. Delighted for the intellectual shoutout because Caste explains so much of what is unfolding around us, and I wish I could download its contents into every human on the planet. At times like this, I think of my father, who so loved newspapers, but mostly of my anagram-and-Scrabble-loving mother, who would have gotten such a kick out of this. Nothing but gratitude….
