Caste: the Origins of our Discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

This week, we’re taking on Caste by Isabel Wilkerson—a book that argues the United States isn’t just shaped by racism, but by a deeply embedded caste system that assigns value, opportunity, and humanity along rigid lines.

We’ll be honest upfront: this is a complicated conversation for us as two white hosts. We talk about that directly - what it means to engage with this work from a position of privilege, where our perspective falls short, and why we ultimately chose to move forward without a guest voice after recognizing the emotional weight of asking others to carry that conversation.

From education battles to healthcare disparities to reproductive policy, we connect Wilkerson’s ideas to what’s happening right now, and where we see ourselves in it.

This episode isn’t definitive. It’s an attempt to sit with discomfort, ask better questions, and resist the urge to look away.

Segment 1: Naming the System:

How Politics Is Changing the Way History Is Taught
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/us/history-lessons-ethnic-studies-retreat.html

Education week has a number of trackers on everything from which of this administration’s policies have drawn litigation to which schools the administration’s Department of Education is investigating and why.https://www.edweek.org/trackers

Education Week Is Tracking “Anti-CRT” Legislation Across the US ****https://nonprofitquarterly.org/education-week-is-tracking-anti-crt-legislation-across-the-us/

Book Bans https://pen.org/book-bans/

Segment 2: Comfort at the Top

How companies are navigating the DEI backlash https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/us/politics/dei-corporate-america.html

As some DEI critics sat victory is near, companies face new pushback over rollbacks https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/28/dei-companies-trump-doj/

How Democrats Lost the DEI War https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/28/dei-companies-trump-doj/

Why is DEI Under attack? https://diversity.com/post/why-is-dei-under-attack-understanding-the-current-backlash

Segment 3: Body Keeps the Score

Maternal Mortaility Rates in the United States, 2023 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2023/maternal-mortality-rates-2023.htm

The CDC Issues New Data on Maternal Mortality Rates in the U.S.
https://www.marchofdimes.org/about/news/cdc-issues-new-data-maternal-mortality-rates-us

Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Key Issues
https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-key-issues/

Segment 4: Control & Policy

Voting & Elections https://www.brennancenter.org/topics/voting-elections

Racial disparities in voter turnout have grown since Supreme Court ruling, study says https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235521824/voter-turnout-race-disparities-supreme-court

Implications of Housing Conditions for Racial Wealth and Health Disparities https://www.urban.org/research/publication/implications-housing-conditions-racial-wealth-and-health-disparities

Jamie’s rec:
What Moves the Dead
by T. Kingfisher

Mel’s rec:
The amazing Jen Hamilton
https://jenhamiltonsub.substack.com/p/what-really-happened-on-that-flightjenhamilton.co/merch-https://www.instagram.com/_jen_hamilton_/https://www.instagram.com/edsummersnc/