"the professions that got to go to space first are all grey and green ... but it’s not because of their ~caste~, it’s because ~those are the castes that happen to work in space colonization related jobs~!" I don't understand your distinction here. If all jobs that get to go to space first are of a certain caste, then it's *because of their caste* that they get to go to space.
So, what I was trying to say is that no one thought, “I hate purples and oranges! They don’t ~deserve~ to be the first Amentans to see space! And so I’m going to choose other castes ~because I like them better~!”
But they did choose astronauts to go to space first, because going to space is ~literally their job~! And this did result in greens and greys being the first to space! But it wasn’t ~because of casteism~!
So, what I was saying is that it’s only casteist in the sense that ~having a caste system at all~ is casteist! (So not really, in any meaningful sense of the word!)
Actually, this does draw attention to a caste related problem.
Sometimes people will point out, in response to complaints by caste freedom advocates, that people who have a lot of interest in and aptitude for something not of their caste can pursue it as a hobby. And, there are many problems with this answer! But this draws attention to one of them: they will not be seriously looked at for recruitment.
If a yellow, very rich from a yellow company, invested resources in learning the skills of a pilot, trained to the abilities of a pilot, would make an excellent pilot, makes enough money to handle ooci laws - even with all those extreme requirements met - when pilots are being recruited they are still probably be overlooked.
(And of course also the element that people tend to think of what is required first and foremost in terms of jobs and job skills needed, and not think of other reasons that might indicate people of other castes should be involved in something anyway.)
