A history of prejudice : race, caste, and difference in India and the United States

This is a book about prejudice and democracy, and the prejudice of democracy. In comparing the historical struggles of two geographically disparate populations - Indian Dalits (once known as Untouchables) and African Americans - Gyanendra Pandey, the leading subaltern historian, examines the multiple dimensions of prejudice in two of the world's leading democracies. The juxtaposition of two very different locations and histories, and within each of them of varying public and private narratives of struggle, allows for an uncommon analysis of the limits of citizenship in modern societies and states. Pandey, with his characteristic delicacy, probes the histories of his protagonists to uncover a shadowy world where intolerance and discrimination are part of both public and private lives. This unusual and sobering book is revelatory in its exploration of the contradictory history of promise and denial that is common to the official narratives of nations such as India and the United States and the ideologies of many opposition movements. Contents 9 List of Figures 10 Preface and Acknowledgments 11 1 Introduction 19 The Prejudice of the Modern 21 Juxtaposing African American and Dalit Histories 23 Internal Colonialism and Local Prejudice 30 “Rags to Riches” - or the Middle-Class Dream 36 Quandaries of Development and Democracy 40 Freedoms Dawn 46 2 Prejudice as Difference 52 Indias Dalits 58 African Americans and African American Women 64 The Struggle for Identity 69 Difference - and Otherness 74 3 Dalit Conversion 79 The Double Bind of the Internally Colonized 80 Converting the Converter 85 A Statutory Reinscription of Difference 90 A Law Minister from the Wrong Caste 96 The Question of a Religious Conversion 100 Implications of the Dalit Conversion 104 A Different Sameness 110 4 “Double V” 115 The Double V Campaign6 119 The Geography of Prejudice 126 The War Comes Home 132 The Everyday of “America” 139 Difference Redefined 144 5 An African American Autobiography 149 Accessing the “Inner Life” 152 Echoes of a Life in the South 157 The Destiny of a Woman 162 The Problem of the Color Line 167 The Body of History 174 6 Dalit Memoirs 180 The “Inner Cry” 183 The Body as Text 190 The Indomitable Self 199 The Question of Dalit Selfhood 207 7 The Persistence of Prejudice 212 Passing - into the Mainstream 215 Passing - by Other Names 222 The Question of Community, or Appropriate Constituency 228 The Vernacular and the Universal 235 Select Bibliography 239 Index 251 This is a book about prejudice and democracy, and the prejudice of democracy. In comparing the historical struggles of two geographically disparate populationsIndian Dalits (once known as Untouchables) and African AmericansGyanendra Pandey, the leading subaltern historian, examines the multiple dimensions of prejudice in two of the world's leading democracies. The juxtaposition of two very different locations and histories and, within each of these, of varying public and private narratives of struggle, allows for an uncommon analysis of the limits of citizenship in modern societies and states. Pandey, with his characteristic delicacy, probes the histories of his protagonists to uncover a shadowy world where intolerance and discrimination are part of both public and private lives. This unusual and sobering book is revelatory in its exploration of the contradictory history of promise and denial that is common to the official narratives of nations such as India and the United States and the ideologies of many opposition movements. Introduction -- Prejudice As Difference -- Dalit Conversion: The Assertion Of Sameness -- 'double V': The Everyday Of Race Relations -- An African American Autobiography: Re-locating Difference -- Dalit Memoirs: Re-scripting The Body -- The Persistence Of Prejudice. Gyanendra Pandey. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 221-231) And Index. Compares the historical struggles of two geographically disparate populations - Indian Dalits and African Americans - to examine prejudice in two leading democracies