Everyday Casteist things

Casteism in India has been a common problem for a long time. But as the new generation, we promised to bring in some change to every other problem. At times, we unknowingly or knowingly end up doing things as we’ve seen since our childhood. That comes up as our habit, but it actually is very casteist and offensive to the people we do or say things to.

Here’s the list of some very casteist things we do/ we see:

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1. Not calling out people who discriminate between castes

We often dodge people we know, like friends and family, while they discriminate. But in order to revolutionise we need to call them out too.

Fight caste discrimination in India
foreignpolicy

2. Discriminating between you and your domestic help

Giving them different utensils to eat, different bottles to drink water from, asking them to sit down while you’ll sit on the bed or sofa. This is clearly casteism and you better simmer it down, since if you have a child, they are learning this from you.

Discriminating domestic help
countercurrents

3. Taking pride in your own caste

Often we take pride when we belong from a high caste, we start boating about that certain fact. Forgetting it’s very wrong to make other people look down upon.

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4. Telling someone they don’t look like their caste

We all have a stereotypical typical of castes in our heads. Like brahmins should be the person to do puja, etc. Telling people they don’t look like them, even if you mean that as a joke, could hurt sentiments.

Casteist Things We Do
learnreligions

5. Saying you don’t see caste

It’s a good thing to be open-minded and not to discriminate. You may have never faced casteism because you belong to the upper caste, but people from lower communities are constantly reminded about their caste.

6. Why to bring caste into this?

There are many assault cases in which the caste was part of the reason for the incident. It happens to the lower caste people since they are the targeted ones.

Dalit women at risk
BBC

7. Asking people about their caste

Kya karoge janke? It is not necessary to ask people their caste even if you work, study or share a room together. This move is absolutely terrible and very much illegal. Cause this is how casteism and differentiation start in most places.

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asking people their caste
Chennai Memes/Facebook

8. Using words like cha**r, bha**i etc as slurs is a big no

You can use the name of whole communities as slurs to refer to people you see beneath you. But using slurs could show that you are kind of ashamed of calling them who they are.

cobbler man in india
dawn

9. Being defensive against the reservation category

Yes, it is frustrating sometimes to see a student who scores 70% get into college whereas you who score 90% still didn’t make it, because of the reservation category. But do not forget, when it comes to social pressure, you are far more privileged than them.

10. Asking about them being well-dressed

Just because they belong to a lower caste doesn’t mean they are not financially stable. Stop being dumb, ya.

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Young Babasaheb Ambedkar
Babasaheb Ambedkar as a Lawyer in Bombay High Court. wikimedia

11. Being stereotypical and having an imaginary image of them in your head

Thinking all Dalits to have a moustache is dumb. Because they have been attacked and even murdered when they tried to grow a moustache.

dalit man moustache killed
Google

12. Taking up Dalit spaces to talk about Dalit issues when you aren’t a Dalit

Is casteist, doesn’t matter how liberal you try to be. That’s right Swara Bhaskar, you can’t do that, no matter how progressive your filmography is.

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13. Making films to spread “awareness”

Those kinda films do nothing but fill up brains with the fact that they belong to get treated like that since they’ve been getting treated in the same way for years now.

14. Hosting debates

You might be jobless, you might have a lot of leisure time, but all of us don’t. We might make up time for debates that make sense but not for debates like, “should we have a reservation category?” Stop it, dude.

debates about casteism
Aaj Tak/YouTube

15. Saying nonsense like ‘manual scavenging is spiritual’

What is this behaviour?

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Shreshtha is a student of English Honors at The Bhawanipur Education Society in Kolkata. With over 3 years of experience in digital media, content syndication, writing, and editing, she navigates through her academic and professional journey. In her spare time, she keeps a watchful eye on Bollywood, fashion, lifestyle, pop culture, and social media trends. There's no drama here, just a subtle commitment to staying in the loop. Shreshtha is always ready with a cup of tea to sip and spill.