The Caste System in Corporate America

With the Iowa caucuses round the corner, the discussions are not about issues like Iraq and rising medical costs anymore. It's about "Who is the most likeable candidate?" or "Is a woman able to rule the country?" or " We have the most diverse groups of candidates". And I would like to ask "HOW DOES IT MATTER?" .If the candidate gets the job done, then how does it matter if he was a she, or if he is an African American or if he practiced an unknown form of Christianity. America is considered one of the most developed nations in the world and I see it going back to the pre-historic human roots day by day.
When I came to this country, I thought, "Wow this is the land of diversity. After all, this is the land that was formed by the immigrants. Isn't this the country, which allowed Indra Nooyi to walk in her first interview in a sari? How intolerant can these people be?" Then I joined Business School and I was told by a person in the community who went to the same school "You are fighting three odds. You are not a white, you are a woman and you don't have an American accent." And my husband still tells me, "Did you think they gave you that admission in business school because of your essays? No dear, its just based on the money you had in your bank account!!"
I realize it everyday when I see people around me how the caste system works here. The caste system, in the past drew the guidelines around people in a certain profession. The educated one was the Brahmin, the warrior the Kshatriya, the business man the Vaishya and everyone else in other profession was considered the Sudra. Don't you see it happening around you in the work culture here? The white American is the manager, the Indian or the Chinese the techie and the Mexican the blue-collar worker. When the companies take a picture of their corporation to showcase, they surely have the white CEO with an African American, a Chinese and an Indian in the background and then they add a Hispanic too to the mixture and one among them is surely a woman. "NO, NO WE ARE NOT SEXISTS AND WE BELIEVE IN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY" the picture seems to portray.
You may call me a cynic and say, "Oh c'mon, you are stereotyping now. The top 100 companies to work for are pretty diverse." Oh yes, they sure are. They will surely have some women and African Americans in the Executive Management and call themselves diverse. They come to universities and proclaim, "Oh we are pretty diverse" They will also bring one of their diverse employees with them. And you think," Wow, I should work for THIS company." No dear, you should not think about it. If you are an Indian then you have to be a finance guru or a tech genius to go up the management ladder. But still can you break the glass ceiling, I wonder.
Until you have perfected the American accent, or you can go and drink in the bar at the happy hour, you my dear, can only dream to remain the Software Architect in your company. Soft skills are important, they will tell you at business school. But can soft skills run the outsourced America? Maybe its time to think about it, along with those weakening Math and Science scores.