Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

I see people directly referring to a candidate who didn’t do well in an interview “must have gotten admission to IIT/NIT via reservation” (reservation is something of American affirmative action; but I’m not really sure). Passing remarks behind the back of other colleagues. And then saying things like, apparently being generous, “wow, doesn’t seem like you’re from that community!” (implying as if that community is inherently weak and dumb and the individual is an exception).

My name is as caste neutral as it gets. They still somehow figure it out - thousands of miles from my native place.

When you tell them you never used reservation even though you were eligible - you become kinda of like them, a little. But the moment you say you didn’t use it because you didn’t need it and you wanted to leave the college seat for someone more needy and that you support reservation system - you’re thrown back away from being somewhat like them.

Yes, the them and us are clear distinctions here.

It comes in many shapes and forms. Landlords asking “we’d prefer vegetarians” that’s asking “we’re Brahmins and prefer Brahmin or upper caste tenants”. My friend just lied as he really liked a flat overlooking a lake and trees next to the balcony in a quiet area, he said “well, even though I’m a Brahmin I eat meat once in a while” (he wasn’t a Brahmin) and the landlord was soon saying, “of course, of course, food is a personal choice”. He left soon as the landlord politely but slyly kept trying to glean the confirmation out of his visitors including me, also tried setting him up with his niece assuming his caste.

This will end up being a poorly written extremely long essay if I keep giving examples.

It was very early in my pre teens that I was made aware of my caste and place in the social hierarchy. I was fully aware that I sit somewhere in the middle of the caste hierarchy and there are people above me and also below me.

The power imbalance is so staggering and oppression is so deep rooted in such pervasive manner that all things might get consumed by the simmering anger and hatred one day. People who have lived mostly in cities easily fail to see this. They brush it aside saying we have jobs, we are moving on, we are getting educated.

This is so ignorant and blinding that they not only miss that a far greater number that lives in villages and towns and smaller cities are unseen by them, they are not seeing what’s right in front of them in the same larger cities as well. And yes, a lot of them deliberately do not acknowledge such divides and inequalities - some with a desire to fit in, others with vested interests of historical social power.

PS. Also, it’s so so different from the western notion of racism. So different.

This fits with a saying I've seen thrown around about our modern times, which is basically that "Class is the only remaining non-taboo bias in American polite society".

Living in a very blue city in a very blue state surrounded by highly educated, "social justice warrior" types .. you'd be surprised how quickly the same people who have every type of window decal/bumper sticker/flag, march in every sort of rally you can imagine, and earnestly support every anti-racism/DEI initiative under the sun.. are willing to "punch down" class-wise, as long as the lower class people are white.

Most normal Americans, if asked to rank the statements "Black people are disgusting pigs", and "White people are disgusting pigs", would rank them as equally racist, regardless of whether white or black people have "power" in America.