ABSTRACT
The paradigms of power in any society are continuously reordered, reorientated and reconstituted by dismantling the rigidly structured borders that were once exclusive binaries. The categories of race and caste were viewed till recently through the binary parameters of white/black, good/bad, superior/inferior, knowledge/ignorance. This chapter investigates the shifts in intra-racial, intra-caste power equations. It traces the continued hold of oppression that lurks within the system for various reasons. This dynamics are explored in the light of selected works of Maya Angelou, a contemporary African-American writer, and Bama, a Dalit Thamizh (Tamil) regional writer. Just as slavery has been a peculiar institution in America, casteism is a peculiar malady of India. In power struggles within the community based on gender, women take decisions individually and independently. They stand boldly against oppression in the face of violence and social censure.
