Digital Scrapbook Entry- India
Jack Shams
12/4/14
Per 4.
Website Links: http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp
Caste of Life
In ancient India the caste system dominated the way of life for everyone. If you were a Brahmin, Kshtriya, or a Vaishya life was good. There was on group of people who were so disrespected they were not even included in the caste system, these people were called the untouchables. The untouchables were treated as people, they had to clean everyone else's waste, people would avoid them at all costs, and others would act like they didn't even exist. Living as an untouchable was barley living but they were forced to live that way for their entire life in hope that they would be reincarnated into a higher caste. In India we see the caste system form such strong social stratification that some people in their community were not even treated as people. Although the caste system created intense stratification between classes it kept the community tightly knit because each group of people felt like they had a job to do and they had some sort of importance to the community.
In the world today we still have social classes which creates social stratification. People of higher class do not primarily prefer to be spend time with people of a lower class. There are other deciding factors in the way people treat one another and one of the biggest factors is race. In the 1950's America endured one of the largest social breakdowns in history. People of the white race would not even treat people of the black race as humans. They thought they could not drink out of the same water fountain or use the same bathrooms as white citizens. As much as this tore apart the community it also brought it together. People felt like they had an opportunity to change their community for the better which made them come together as one.
The caste system brought the community together just as much as it took it apart. The Civil Rights Movement did the exact same thing in America in the 50's. The untouchables were avoided at all costs and not treated properly or fairly to say the least. African Americans were treated the same way in the 50's. When times are tough for a group of people they will come together to weather the storm together. Communities are built to be brought apart and be able to withstand the separation, this is proven throughout history.
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