A Reno Family Foundation Symposium | Caste: An Evening with Isabel Wilkerson
Wed Feb 24, 7:00 PM - Wed Feb 24, 8:00 PM

Join us for a special virtual symposium and evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson for a conversation about her #1 New York Times bestseller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, and the hierarchy of human divisions that define our lives today.

In the book the New York Times declared “An instant American classic…” Wilkerson examines the unseen caste system and hierarchy of human rankings that has shaped our nation. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Through riveting stories, she shows how the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics.

Finally, she points to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. Don’t miss this important evening with Isabel Wilkerson, the mind and voice behind the brilliant story of what lies beneath the surface of life in America today.

Funding provided by the Reno Family Foundation Fund.