It is the fixed nature of caste that distinguishes it from class,a term to which it is often compared. Class is an altogether sepa-rate measure of one’s standing in a society, marked by level ofeducation, income, and occupation, as well as the attendant char-acteristics, such as accent, taste, and manners, that flow from so-cioeconomic status. These can be acquired through hard work andingenuity or lost through poor decisions or calamity. If you can actyour way out of it, then it is class, not caste. Through the years,wealth and class may have insulated some people born to the sub-ordinate caste in America but not protected them from humiliat-ing attempts to put them in their place or to remind them of theircaste position.

Bhimrao Ambedkar came to theUnited States to study economics as a graduate student at Colum-bia, focused on the differences between race, caste, and class.