Chapter 10

Question 1

How did Wilkerson relate the Indian caste system to the American experience?

Answer 1

She found strong parallels between the treatment of Dalits and African-Americans, including state-sanctioned violence and systemic marginalization.

Question 2

What does the chapter title “Central Miscasting” refer to?

Answer 2

The misalignment between people’s true identities and the roles caste assigns them—Wilkerson as an author, not a domestic; Tushar as a geologist, not a warrior.

Question 3

How did skin color function within caste in India, according to Tushar?

Answer 3

It acted as a “caste within caste,” where darker skin, often correlated with lower caste, was discriminated against—similar to colorism in the U.S.

Question 4

What does the chapter suggest about liberation from caste?

Answer 4

Liberation requires breaking the inherited scripts and recognizing caste as an artificial construct, not a divine or natural order.