Pulitzer Prize and New York Times best seller Isabel Wilkerson spoke about her book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” at Iowa State’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Speaker Event.

Due to COVID-19, the event was held on WebEx.

Over half a year after Wilkerson’s most recent work was published, Wilkerson sat down to speak with the attendees of the virtual event to talk details about her book, educate listeners on the history of the caste system as it relates to the historical Black experience and speak on the recent events in the United States.

“We gather this time of year in honor of Martin Luther King, who was not only the father of the American Civil Rights Movement but also the father of American democracy as we know it,” she began.

Speaking on how the United States was not truly a democracy until we all had equal rights, Wilkerson credited MLK as the father of modern democracy.

Wilkerson went further into the historical status of Black folk in the U.S. and compared it to India’s caste system, explaining how Black people have historically been forced into an inescapable low level of social class and recognition.

Diving into a history lesson through telling of MLK’s journey to India and discussing his experiences learning about the caste system and meeting Gandhi, Wilkerson talked about how the story influenced her book and research into the caste system.

“We have not addressed, much less reconciled, what we are facing as a nation. No one was held to account for the 246 years of slavery or for the rupture of secession and civil war, no one was held to account. Instead, there are monuments to these men,” Wilkerson said.

With its history and unwillingness to take responsibility for it, Wilkerson brought up the lack of repercussions for enslaving an entire race of people and how monuments to the people defending the act were instead erected and have schools named after them.

“Because we have not addressed, much less reconciled, this history, we saw a Confederate flag in the United States Capitol within our lifetime, clearly within the last month,” Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson delved into modern happenings in the U.S., mentioning the Black lives lost to police killings and last month’s Capitol insurrection. Wilkerson used this to talk about how racism is alive and well through such displays, like waving a Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol.

The event ended after a brief Q&A session where Wilkerson answered some questions about herself. 

Wilkerson’s book can be found at the Iowa State University Bookstore.