Hey, it's NPR's Book at the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. This week, we've been bringing you old

conversations from our archives for Black History Month. Today's isn't an old interview, but it is

about the long history of black people in America. It's from the folks that threw line.

They spoke with author, Isabel Wilkerson, about her book, Cast, the origins of

our discontent. And what she lays out in that book is that cast, more than race, is the prevailing

hierarchy in our country. You might have read her book, The Warmth of Other Suns, about the

Great Migration. And Wilkerson makes the point that often people talk about that book through the framing of racism,

that people fled the Jim Crow South because they were running away from racism.

But she says that's not exactly right.

And she says the word racism doesn't even appear in that book.

Instead, as she tells NPR's Ramtin Arablui and Rund al-Del-Fatah,

what they were really running away from was cast.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's sacred work to be able to record the experiences of people who have been part of history but not been included in the history.

This is Isabel Wilkerson.

I am author of The Warrant of Other Sons, which was about the outpouring of six million

African Americans from the south to the rest of the country,

seeking refuge from the caste system known as Jim Crow.

Isabel spent a decade gathering research and conducting interviews for her book.

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