Caste, Race, & Culture – How Elders Can Effect Meaningful Change
Mini-Medical School Spring 2021 Graduation
John A. Burns School of Medicine University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i By Naleen N. Andrade, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Disclosure Statement
• I have no relationships with industry or person(s) that could be construed as a conflict of interest in presenting this material • Disclosure of one of the books used to discuss Hawai‘i ethnic groups and how culture is the context through which we comprehend and express caste, race and class
Learning Objectives (4)
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Explain the difference between caste and race 2. Distinguish between racism and casteism 3. Articulate how culture differs from race and provides a context for caste in Hawai‘i 4. Explain one way in which elders can effect change in caste, race and culture Definitions of Caste, Race, & Class
Key Purpose and Definitions
• Caste framed as a sociocultural concept that explains America’s 400-year history of Race & Racism. • Caste underpins the U.S. Racial Hierarchy, with White Anglo-Saxons at the top and Blacks at the bottom. • Caste in America is a system of deep-seated underlying assumptions that explain racist behavior & institutions. • Caste is an unseen force … fixed & rigid. • Race is fluid, superficial, the visible instrument and expression of Caste. American Caste System
• A fixed, embedded system that ranks human value • Caste is determined by what one looks like… • Based on race or other arbitrary biological, ethnic, or cultural traits
Caste – from the Portuguese casta
• A social system of hierarchy often developed by spiritual-religious and/or political beliefs and legitimacy. • Maintained by endogamy and hereditary roles with ancestral lineage (genealogy) being important. • It is fixed from birth and cannot be earned or wed out of … • Determines occupation, social status, religious ritual status, social relationships/interactions. • Often excludes certain groups from the hierarchy based on cultural beliefs of purity and pollution. India Hindu Caste System Senegal Wolof Caste System
Geer (Nobles) Descendants of Royals, Palace Guards, Free-born land-owning peasants
Nyenyo (Non-Nobles) Artisans, Craftsmen, Griots (musicians, storytellers
Jaam (Captives who are enslaved) Menial Laborers determined by their masters. All castes can have Jaam lineage.
CASTEISM (Wilkerson)
• Any action or structure that seeks to limit, obstruct, hinder or place someone in a rigid system of ranked value. • To put a person in their presumed higher or lower place based on their perceived caste. • Maintains the hierarchy to maintain your ranking, or to elevate yourself above others, or keep others beneath you. RACE – social construct that narrowly and rigidly categorizes groups of people that share physical traits such as: • Skin color, hair texture • Other biological attributes
ETHNICITY – a learned social construct that broadly categorizes groups/clans of people by their: • Cultural affiliation & identification
RACISM – a learned belief that different Races have traits that make them superior or inferior to each other. It is the unjust rationalization for “superior” races to act toward “inferior” races with: • Prejudice, Discrimination, Antagonism, Violence • Stereotyping inferiority and/or mocking
Institutional or Systemic Racism
• A form of racism embedded in everyday social interactions within a society and its institutions … • That leads to discrimination and bias in health care delivery, criminal justice, employment, housing, political power, and education. Discrimination & Racism against Negro Americans are rooted in Capitalism & Economic Exploitation by the ruling Southern White Plantation Owners (1948) Institutional or Systemic Racism • A form of racism embedded in everyday social interactions within a society and its institutions… • That leads to discrimination and bias in health care delivery, criminal justice, employment, housing, political power, and education. Institutional or Systemic Casteism A form of casteism embedded in everyday social interactions within a society and its institutions that: • Seeks to keep a person in their presumed higher or lower place based on their perceived rank (caste), • Tries to maintain your ranking or elevate yourself above others or keep others beneath you.
American Society’s Age Caste System
Middle-Age 40-65 years
Young Adults, 18-39 years
Children and Youth, 0-18 years
Elders, 65 years or higher Class – a social construct that organizes groups by their:
• Standing in their society • Income level • Level of education • Land ownership • Social-Political power • Accent and diction in speaking or writing • Ability to move up (or down) the Class hierarchy
Race, Ethnicity, Culture & Caste
• Race has rigid using physical characteristics, along with intellectual and moral qualities to categorize people. • Ethnicity goes beyond ancestry, blood quantum, and physical differences. It includes both concept of kinship (external relationships) and identity (concept of one’s inner self), which unites the past with the present and future. • Culture has more porous boundaries than race & ethnicity that are easier to cross (e.g., Language and Pidgin). Culture can also serve as the: • Context that influences the expression of the Self or Person. • Context that influences how we perceive and change casteism and racism (e.g., Hawaii intermarriage and ethnic jokes). Caste, Race, & Class in Hawai‘i
Pre-Contact Native Hawaiian Society Caste System
India Hindu Caste System Senegal Wolof Caste System
Ali‘i (Royals Geer & (Nobles) Nobles) Nyenyo Kāhuna (Non-Nobles) Artisans, Craftsmen, Artisans, Craftsmen, Griots (musicians, Griots (musicians, storytellers) storytellers Jaam (Captives who are enslaved) Menial Laborers determined by their masters. Maka‘āinana All castes can have Jaam lineage. Commoners, farmers, fishermen,
Kauwā Outcast, captured enslaved, untouchable Pre-Contact Native Hawaiian Post-Contact 1778 to 1835 Hawaii Plantation Society Caste System Oligarchy Society Caste System
1778 Capt. Cook Arrives
Euro-American Ruling High Intermarriage Begins Planters, Landed Ali‘i, Ali‘i Missionaries, (Royals & Bankers, Nobles) 1835 Sugar Plantations Begin Merchants Kāhuna Educated Native Hawaiians Artisans, Craftsmen, Griots (musicians, storytellers & Immigrants 1848 Land Māhele Scholars, Ministers, Teachers, Clerks
Maka‘āinana Commoners, farmers, fishermen Under-educated/Uneducated Hawaiians & Immigrants Planation Laborers, Blue/White Collar workers, Domestics
Kauwā Working Poor, Unemployed, Land-less, Homeless Outcast, slave, untouchable
Caste Line & Class: U.S. vs. Hawai‘i (Influence of Intermarriage & Contract Labor)
American South Hawai‘i
Upper Upper
Prof. Middle Middle
Working Middle
Poor Working
Poor Hawaii 2021 Post-Plantation/Visitor Industry Wilkerson Proposed American Society Caste/Class System Society Caste System
Politicians, Does Racism Exist in Business Executives, Hawai‘i? Landed Ali‘i Trusts
Professional Middle Class, Scholars, Ministers, Teachers, Administrative staff
Under-educated & Uneducated White & Blue Collar Workers, Indigenous Americans Visitor Industry Workers
Working Poor, Unemployed, Homeless
How Can Elders Effect Meaningful Change? America’s Government Leadership in 2021-2022
• President Biden is 78 years-old • Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is 80 years-old • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is 78 years-old • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is 70 years-old • Chief Justice John Roberts is 65 years-old • Justice Stephen Breyer is 82 years-old • Justice Clarence Thomas is 72 years-old • Justice Samuel Alito is 70 years-old
America’s Government Leaders & Age Caste System (Social-Political-Cultural Context)
Elders 65 years or higher
Middle-Age 40-65 years
Young Adults18-39 years
Children and Youth 0-18 years Hawai‘i Society’s Age Caste System (Hawaii’s Culture Context)
Elders (Kūpuna) 65 years or higher
Children and Youth (Mo‘opuna) 0-18 years
Young Adults (‘Ōpio) 18-39 years
Middle-Age (Mākua) 40-65 years
Summary & Conclusion
• Caste & Race Casteism & Racism • Culture’s role: In Racism In Casteism • Elders Can Effect Meaningful Change? Within yourself, family, community & society