Untouchables
March 22, 2012
Anthropology
Untouchables
In the article Untouchable, Tom O’Neil tells us what being an untouchable is all about. By interviewing those labeled as untouchable, O’Neil finds a way to truly express to us what it’s like to be an untouchable and the true underlying complications that the seeming unbreakable caste system has projected on its cultural members. What are untouchables? Untouchables, or achutta, are the lowest ranking members in the caste system – or pecking order. O’Neil states that “untouchables are outcasts – people considered too impure, too polluted, to rank as worthy beings,” (O'Neil, p. 1). Interestingly, untouchables are not deformed or distinctively different from other Indians in any way. “Their skin is the same color. They don’t wear rags; they are not covered with sores. They walk the same streets and attend the same schools.” (O'Neil, p. 2). Yet, O’Neil goes on to tell us that “[they] are shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher caste homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in public places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and gunned down.” (O'Neil, p. 1). Untouchables cannot hide from their status if they were born an untouchable – they will forever be an untouchable. “Untouchables may as well wear a scarlet tattoo on their foreheads to advertise their status.” (O'Neil, p. 2). O’Neil goes on to quote Sukhadeo Thorat, a faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru University and among the few Untouchables in India with a Ph.D. “You cannot hide your caste,” he says. “You can try to disguise it, but there are so many ways to slip up. A Hindu will not feel confident developing a relationship without knowing your background. Within a couple of months, your caste will be revealed.” (O'Neil, p. 2). O’Neil tells us that
Family name, village address, body language all deliver clues, but none so much as occupation. Untouchables perform society’s unclean work – work that
Anthropology
Untouchables
In the article Untouchable, Tom O’Neil tells us what being an untouchable is all about. By interviewing those labeled as untouchable, O’Neil finds a way to truly express to us what it’s like to be an untouchable and the true underlying complications that the seeming unbreakable caste system has projected on its cultural members. What are untouchables? Untouchables, or achutta, are the lowest ranking members in the caste system – or pecking order. O’Neil states that “untouchables are outcasts – people considered too impure, too polluted, to rank as worthy beings,” (O'Neil, p. 1). Interestingly, untouchables are not deformed or distinctively different from other Indians in any way. “Their skin is the same color. They don’t wear rags; they are not covered with sores. They walk the same streets and attend the same schools.” (O'Neil, p. 2). Yet, O’Neil goes on to tell us that “[they] are shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher caste homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in public places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and gunned down.” (O'Neil, p. 1). Untouchables cannot hide from their status if they were born an untouchable – they will forever be an untouchable. “Untouchables may as well wear a scarlet tattoo on their foreheads to advertise their status.” (O'Neil, p. 2). O’Neil goes on to quote Sukhadeo Thorat, a faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru University and among the few Untouchables in India with a Ph.D. “You cannot hide your caste,” he says. “You can try to disguise it, but there are so many ways to slip up. A Hindu will not feel confident developing a relationship without knowing your background. Within a couple of months, your caste will be revealed.” (O'Neil, p. 2). O’Neil tells us that
Family name, village address, body language all deliver clues, but none so much as occupation. Untouchables perform society’s unclean work – work that
Cited: Necessary Angels. (2008). National Geographic , 77, 86. O 'Neil, Tom. (2003). Untouchable. National Geographic, 1,2,5,7.