even a very slight superiority over their neighbors.[1] To-day in India a number of castes are called Shūdras by the Brāhmanas, but these castes are by no means on the same level. Among Shūdras themselves the various castes are very variously rated as high or low or intermediate. The lower castes try to adopt manners (āchāra) of the higher castes, and thus they would raise their heads above others and disown any sort of connection with their former brothers. Such phenomena are seen to-day and probably were seen in the time of our writer. Our writer has made mention of pretenders to a higher caste more than once and commended the imitation of higher castes very highly (x, 127). Again, it seems improbable that the tribes which followed occupations that are characteristic of low civilization, the races which may have been once dominant, the peoples engaged in more or less skilled occupations, and peoples differing from each other in cleanliness and
- ↑ In a way almost all countries have a hierarchical society, the hierarchical character becomes more pronounced when the questions of race and occupation become mixed.
This phenomenum is seen in the United States. The various groups of the people can be graded as follows: 1. The blue bloods; 2. The New Englanders; 3. The born gentile Americans; 4. The English and Scotch immigrants; 5. The Irish; 6. Gentile immigrants from other countries of Western Europe, 7. Dagoes (Italians); 8. The Jews; 9. The Mongolians; 10. Negroes. Whether the Jews are above or below the Dagoes differs according to the locality.
In this country I have noticed the Irish thinking themselves quite superior to the Dutchman. The Chinese think themselves infinitely superior to the Negroes.
Though the Americans generally do not make much distinction between the Chinese and the Japanese, regarding them equally low, still I found some Japanese complaining very bitterly that some people call themselves Japanese in this country though they are only Chinese!
