What is this take that if you don't know your caste you must be uppercaste or that you have had too much privilege that has transcended caste. You can experience caste without having vocabulary to express it.

For some of us our parents chose erasure of our past to protect us and this is a valid mechanism to navigate their lives. Do you think they had the support systems and social media that supported you today

As dalit Christians this coming to terms with your identity when you had a time in your life to get a caste certificate did not occur for us. Why do you not understand this.

This does not necessarily mean we were rich, we navigated the caste worlds in cities, but some of our families articulated our caste as history, some did not.

Does every person experiencing oppression have the vocabulary and articulation to 'discuss' their oppression? If they due to access to Babasaheb's writing begin to develop a caste consciousness, and are honest, respect that experience

Diaspora Dalits should not speak, Dalits who went to universities should not speak, Dalits who speak good english should not speak. But you will build a savarna network that facilitates your voice everywhere

Many of my beef eating tamil relatives do not call themselves dalit, they choose to identify themselves as tamil Christians because that's how they see themselves.

That you learnt to assert yourself as dalit, a population formerly called 'untouchable' is the result of political consciousness raised through anti-caste leaders, having access to it is NOT universal.

Others will choose to hide this if it poses a disadvantage or risk to their lives or if they do not know how to navigate a caste world and will 'come out' when they feel comfortable. Especially in cities where we can get around superficially.

This coming out isn't for the world, where the idenifiers of caste are apparent. Who will look our dark skins and Christian names and not know we are lower caste. Yet, if I say I only 'know' now, it means I am not afraid of parts of my personal history now

Reading a sociology research on a slum in a city where Dalits preferred to be identified as poor rather than lower caste because they felt you can transcend class, but not caste. (This is based on one slum)

Assertion needs a support system, is in the face of an uppercaste system. Expecting every dalit person to have the privileges to take on a 'fight' especially if they do not have an on ground community that is politically conscious is naive

That some dalit men are sitting around generalising dalit experience and gatekeeping and policing means they are so distant from lived experiences. I can only hope that mutual humility will be the foundation of our work and that they will shut up for a while

Sorry all, just ranting. I know I am being repetitive, but I am always happy to see dalit, obc, adivasi, minority voices in the public sphere that brahmin-banias have monopolised for millennia. To bring random, honestly minor issues to invalidate them is low