Calls to ban caste-based discrimination, the division of people based on birth or descent, have grown louder among South Asian diaspora communities in the United States. But the move has received pushback from some Hindu Americans who argue that the law harms certain communities.
Supporters of the law approved by a 6-1 vote Tuesday said caste discrimination crosses national and religious lines and that without the law, people facing caste discrimination in the US would have no protection.
The regulation is a controversial issue, especially among the South Asian diaspora. Supporters argue it is needed because caste is not protected under existing civil rights protections. Groups opposed to the measure say it will harm communities that are already targets of prejudice.
Councilor Kshama Sawant, a socialist and the only Indian American on the City Council, said the ordinance, as proposed, is not limited to one community, but highlights how caste discrimination crosses national and religious boundaries.
Activists on a variety of issues began arriving in Seattle ahead of Tuesday’s city council meeting. Since last week, more than 100 people have applied to speak at the meeting. Early Tuesday, some activists braved cold temperatures and strong winds to line up outside City Hall for a chance to speak to council before voting. But the board limited public comment at the meeting.
The origins of the caste system in India can be traced back 3,000 years as a social hierarchy based on occupation and birth. It is a system that has developed over centuries under Muslim and British rule. The suffering of those at the bottom of the caste pyramid – known as Dalits – continues. Caste discrimination has been outlawed in India since 1948, a year after the nation’s independence from British rule.
Dalit activists from Seattle and beyond rallied at Seattle City Hall in support of the ordinance, said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder and executive director of California-based Equality Labs.
The US is the second most popular destination for Indians living abroad, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which estimates the US diaspora will grow from about 206,000 in 1980 to about 2.7 million in 2021. South Asians living in the US – up of the 3.5 million counted in the 2010 census. Most of them come from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Over the past three years, several colleges and university systems have moved to ban caste discrimination.
In December 2019, Brandeis University near Boston became the first US college to include caste in its nondiscrimination policy. The California State University system, Colby College, Brown University and the University of California, Davis have all implemented similar measures. Harvard University is introducing caste protections for student workers in 2021 as part of a contract with the graduate student union.
Seattle’s move has support from Dalit activist-led organizations like Equality Labs and others. The group says caste discrimination is common in the diaspora community in the form of social exclusion and discrimination in housing, education and technology sectors where South Asians play an important role.
Opposition to the regulation comes from groups such as the American Hindu Foundation and the North American Hindu Coalition who say there is no need to alienate communities already vulnerable to discrimination in the US.
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