OIC Big Read for Summer 2021 (July)

The Oakwood Inclusion Coalition has selected Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson as our first “big read” for the summer.  Wilkerson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her bestseller The Warmth of Other Suns, examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.  She explains, “… the term racism may be insufficient in our current era. We need new language, a new framework for understanding our divisions and how we got to where we are. Caste gives us this language and allows us to see ourselves through a different lens and the chance to work toward healing from the wounds of artificial hierarchy. We must first see it to begin to resolve it.”

The OIC will offer several different opportunities to discuss and study the book throughout the summer and will offer tips for those wanting to form their own book discussion groups. Copies of Caste are available in a variety of formats (hard copy, E-copy, and audiobook) at Wright Memorial Public Library as well as other local libraries in the area.  Hardback and paperback versions of the book are also available for purchase in book stores.