Desi Roots & Routes - Expert Segment with Nalini Iyer, Episode 2

And Suraj Yengde, who is a Harvard-based Dalit scholar who writes extensively, uses the term global caste to talk about this phenomenon. So that it is that while the caste system in India has its origins in particular religious texts, Hindu texts, and lots and lots of practices, and has evolved over time to become, you know, more complicated, more hidden, yet equally painful ways of caste discrimination. Immigrants bring all of that with them. It's part of the baggage we carry regardless of what our caste identities are, whether it's the privilege of using your caste name as your last name, as is mine, for example. My last name indicates my caste identity, or whether, you know, the freedom with which we can speak about our identities and how we don't have to hide our identities. A lot of people say caste is not an issue, but it is an issue.