ABSTRACT The increasing centrality of caste as an empirical, political, and epistemological category among South Asian Americans has been attracting wider academic attention in the social sciences. Caste is an ancient hierarchical system that was nourished by class antagonism. While diasporic dominant caste members tend to downplay and invisibilize caste, Dalit diasporic community members are likely to experience hierarchical power dynamics. Although the public is gradually becoming more aware of discrimination based on caste after the Seattle City Council's passing of a bill making caste a protected category, very few studies investigate caste tensions within the US diasporic community. This study examines how caste-based practices cross national borders and operate in the Indo-American diaspora on a Division 1 college campus. The findings are based on 28 group conversation participants and 19 interviews. Our study demonstrates that discussions of dating and marriage patterns as well as food practices may enable advantaged young people to recognize patterns of caste privilege that otherwise may be perceived as invisible. Caste privilege operates in the diaspora seemingly ‘everywhere all at once’; nevertheless, this privilege remains unacknowledged even though the University setting has the potential to usher in critical consciousness about all forms of advantage.
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