Caste

by

Isabel Wilkerson

Post-Racialism Term Analysis

Post-racialism is the theory that categories of race are no longer relevant, and that racial discrimination no longer exists. Some people believe that Barack Obama’s presidency signaled a post-racial United States. Wilkerson, however, points out that the majority of white Americans didn’t vote for Obama—and many people resented the fact that a Black man was president of the United States.
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Post-Racialism Term Timeline in Caste

The timeline below shows where the term Post-Racialism appears in Caste. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One: The Afterlife of Pathogens
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
Caste as a Global Problem  Theme Icon
...man from the lower, or subordinate, caste—caused some people to declare the arrival of a post-racial world. But it caused others—members of the dominant caste—to fear that there was no more... (full context)
Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
How Caste Sustains Itself Theme Icon
...factor in so many social interactions that one might not even perceive their own casteism. Post-racialism is still a faraway dream precisely because of caste’s invisibility—and in order to end this... (full context)
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
...was willing to accept. After his inauguration, Americans began telling themselves that U.S. society was post-racial—but this ignored the fact that the majority of white Americans did not vote for him. (full context)