Caste: The Lies That Divide UsCaste: The Lies That Divide Us
What it's about
Isabel Wilkerson argues that America's racial hierarchy is best understood as a caste system, an artificial ranking of human worth like the ones in India and Nazi Germany. She lays out the eight pillars that hold caste systems up, from divine will and heritability to dehumanization and terror, and illustrates them with history and with stories of people, including herself, encountering caste in everyday life.
Why it's worth reading
It's a powerful, beautifully written book that gives readers a new framework for understanding race in America, from the author of The Warmth of Other Suns. It sparked conversations across the country.
You'll love it if you liked
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America or Between the World and Me
Good to know
Some historians debate the caste comparison, which is the book's central argument. It includes descriptions of lynching and Nazi atrocities.
By the numbers
- Readers99 out of 100 · counts 40%+45
- Critics24 out of 100 · counts 14%+4
- Bestseller59 out of 100 · counts 32% (its stronger lane)+21
- Buzz14 out of 100 · counts 15%+2
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero.
NBCC Award (Nonfiction) finalist (2020). #1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1). 4.52★ from 170K Goodreads ratings.
Where it ranks
- #6 of the 48 politics books we rank
- #22 of the 154 history books we rank
- #36 of the 666 modern books we rank
- #83 of the 1,405 books we rank
Bestseller
- #1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)
Shortlisted
- NBCC Award (Nonfiction) finalist (2020)
Reads as
True story, Thought-provoking
More by Isabel Wilkerson
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