Caste, race, and slavery: On comparisons between race in the United States and caste in India, and to forgotten assumptions behind the legal categories

Abstract

While diving into the background ideas about caste and race as legal categories, a researcher will discover an important disagreement between scholars: For some, caste is certainly connected with race, whereas for others, caste and race are separate concepts which refer to distinct realities. The aim of this article is twofold: To consider the validity of several characteristics which are ascribed by many authors as common to caste and race, and to analyse background assumptions that enabled the comparison between caste and race as such. The important question, connected with both these aims is about the emergence of the idea that the ancient “Hindu nation” was divided into two peoples, and castes as a system are reflecting the original division in modern India. We will closely examine comparisons made between the advent of Aryans in India and slavery in the United States and Africa. Finally, we will reconsider the European ideas of human evolution and equality of men, which served as a contrasting board for explanations of caste as a form of slavery.