From, Chris Vaz chrisvaz at optonline.net Sun Apr 6 09:36:42 PDT 2008 > Growing up in Goa in the fifties, I was never exposed to any spectacles of such persecution. > Mario responds: > Chris, > I did not grow up in Goa but I have personally observed some pretty nasty manifestations of caste [see specific examples below] which I would describe as insidious assumed communal superiority based on an accident of birth, not on a persons character and achievements, leading to blatant discrimination. > I would also refer you to the following post on Goanet that you may have missed, and Cornel had nothing to do with it. > http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-March/070192.html > The Goan Catholic caste system has no place in modern India or among modern Indians, especially among pecksniffian Catholics who profess that all men are created equal. One has to simply look at the matrimonial columns in any Indian publication where this issue is on public display on a day-to-day basis. > Here are a few examples that I know of personally to show how insidious and destructive caste can be in practice: > 1. A socially prominent alledgedly Catholic Brahmin Goan man in India shunned his younger sister and took it to his grave because she, a well-known professional, married another accomplished Catholic Goan professional who was not an alleged Brahmin. This caused lifelong misery and dissension in the entire family, which then came together after he died. > 2. A couple of socially prominent allegedly Catholic Brahmin Goan parents in India has shunned one of their sons after he married a gorgeous, accomplished Catholic Goan girl because she was not from an alledgedly Brahmin family. In the meantime, the boys twin brother is welcome in their home because he married a girl from an allegedly Catholic Brahmin Goan family. > 3. The two grown children of an allegedly Catholic Goan Brahmin NRI family in America are still single because the parents insist they marry allegedly Catholic Goan Brahmins to maintain their Goan identity. > 4. A prominent Brahmin Tamil NRI physician in America shunned his daughter after she married a Caucasian American. It got to the point where both the young couple committed suicide. >
