Harvard University fellow Suraj Yengde discussed the importance of solidarity between Dalit and Black communities at a Thursday discussion.
The event was hosted by the Comparative Literary Studies Program and South Asia Research Forum. Weinberg Profs. Laura Brueck and Ivy Wilson moderated the talk.
Brueck began the conversation by discussing Yengde’s 2019 book “Caste Matters.” With the book, Yengde said he hoped to revive a rich tradition of global literature, dating back to the 1820s, chronicling systems that oppressed Black and Dalit people.
“I’ve been trying my best to create an archive for the future,” Yengde said.
Yengde cited James McCune Smith, Frederick Douglass and Charles Sumner as American historical figures who spoke out against the caste system. Douglass, he said, recognized that slavery directly produced a racial caste system in the United States.