this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2026
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It’s not really that so much as Indians of high caste (which his wife is) basically consider themselves ‘white’. So as far as they’re concerned he’s talking about other people, not them.
Casteism and racism are functionally equivalent. Both are based on how / where you're born rather than who you are.
For centuries, people of European descent saw themselves as the global upper caste because of their skin tone and heritage.
It's taken time to undo that regressive thinking, and even though there are some white people who continue to think themselves superior today, most are not racist.
Similarly there are people of Indian upper caste heritage that do not support caste discrimination / supremacy.
I can't speak for Usha Vance herself but her mom, in her capacity as provost of the University of California San Diego's Sixth College, created a pilot course on race, ethnicity and gender in biology and medicine, served on the university's biological sciences diversity committee, and wrote proudly of her school's commitment to diversity.
I strongly doubt that she sees herself as "white". She also does not strike me as a woman that would raise a family with racist or casteist values. Where Usha went wrong is anyone's guess (probably at some point in her education in the US / meeting Vance) but her heritage likely has little to do with it if her mom was championing these values openly.
Both casteism and racism must be abolished.