CASTE OR COLONY? INDIANIZING RACE IN THE UNITED STATES 1
DANIEL IMMERWAHR a1
a1 Department of History, University of California, Berkeley
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AbstractSince the 1830s thinkers in both the United States and India have sought to establish analogies between their respective countries. Although many have felt the US black experience to have obvious parallels in India, there has been a fundamental disagreement about whether being black is comparable to being colonized or to being untouchable. By examining these two competing visions, this essay introduces new topics to the study of black internationalism, including the caste school of race relations, B. R. Ambedkar's anti-caste movement, and the changing significance of India for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Footnotes1 I am grateful to David Hollinger for pushing this project in unexpected and fruitful directions; to Susan Haskell Khan, Gene Irschick, and Nico Slate for generously sharing their research and (strong) opinions; and to Charles Capper, Osamah Khalil, Andrew Mamo, Jeffrey Rogers, Ariel Ron, Claire Ward, Owen Wozniak, and the three anonymous reviewers for their penetrating criticisms of various drafts.
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