heyN February 21, the city of Seattle voted to add caste category Will give far reaching importance to its anti-discrimination laws as a historic step in the fight against caste discrimination.
The significance cannot be overemphasized, this may be the first bill passed by any government body in the world after Ambedkar introduced Article 15 – Prohibition of discrimination on the basis of caste in the Indian Constitution, and the Government of Nepal has passed a bill . Law To put restrictions on caste based discrimination in 2011
As soon as the passage was announced, City Hall erupted with enthusiastic chants of “Jai Bhim” as activists, some with Ambedkar’s picture, hugged each other in celebration.
The amendment was brought by Indian-American council member Kshama Sawant who represents District 3 in central Seattle.
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Ambedkar’s warning
Located in the western state of Washington, the Seattle metro area is a population 3.59 million and the South Asian diaspora continues to grow due to work-related immigration. The city also houses the corporate headquarters of tech giant Amazon.
A 2019 report The number of South Asians in the US is put at 5.4 million by the advocacy group South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). The 2010 census put the number at 3.5 million. With this growth, caste and caste based discrimination has also followed.
Ambedkar who did his graduation and PhD while living in America warning That caste would become a world problem as Indians migrated to other parts of the world.
While discrimination based on caste may not be as prevalent and violent as it is in South Asia, recent studies have shown that it is significant. according to a 2016 survey By Equality Labs, a US-based Dalit civil rights organization, 60 percent of Dalits report experiencing caste-based derogatory jokes or comments, one in three Dalit students report discrimination during their education, and 20 percent of Dalit respondents reported feeling discriminated against at a place of business.
For the Seattle ordinance, more than 200 people signed up to give remote testimony, but due to time limits only 40 each of in-person and remote testimony were heard. An overwhelming majority urged council members to vote yes to prohibit caste discrimination.
Those appearing in person had to line up at midnight so they could speak before the council voted. Many Dalits, Bahujans, Sikhs, Muslims, non-South Asians and even some upper caste Hindus spoke in favor of banning caste discrimination.
Sanket, a local Dalit activist, said in his appeal to the council members, “The fact that we had to stand in line for 12 hours from 2 a.m. to give 30 seconds of testimony to ban caste discrimination.”
Some of the speakers gave emotional testimonials about how they faced casteist slurs and social isolation once their caste was revealed.
At the end of the testimonial, the ordinance was passed 6-1. The lone protester was Sarah Nelson, who argued that it would promote “colonial and racist stereotypes against Hindu communities”.
Councilor Sawant gave a befitting reply saying that it does not separate any one religion or community, rather it transcends national and religious boundaries. She recalled that there was also opposition to women’s and LGBTQ rights.
“Where would we be if those rights were delayed for fear of protests or lawsuits,” she asked.
Read also: The Seattle caste ban is not about Hinduism or Indians. This is America’s Great Culture War
from universities to cities
For the past few years, activists have been fighting to have race included as a category in the list of classes protected from discrimination according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. List Involved race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, and genetic information (including family medical history).
In 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued on Indian-American employee John Doe (not named) at technology conglomerate Cisco for discriminating against the Dalit community on the basis of race or ethnicity. In 2021, a case was filed Against the Hindu sect, the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) alleged that they exploited Dalit laborers to build a temple in New Jersey.
Activists say that including caste as a separate protected category will help people face discrimination.
Over the years, due to the growing chorus to stop racial discrimination in the US, race has been included as a protected category.
- In December 2019 Brandeis University became the first US college to join Caste in its non-discrimination policy.
- in 2021, Colby College, University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and Harvard University added Security against caste discrimination in their policies.
- In January 2022, California State University to become the first and largest university system in the country protect Caste-oppressed students from discrimination.
- In December 2022, Brown University banned Caste discrimination throughout campus, a first for Ivy League universities.
next steps
Various Ambedkarite, Dalit and human rights groups worked tirelessly to ensure the latest victory in Seattle, which included campaigns, working with council member Sawant, public testimony and personal appearances.
Alliance of Seattle Indian-Americans, Ambedkar International Center (AIC), Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA), Equality Labs, Ambedkar King Study Circle, Ambedkarite Buddhist Association of Texas (ABAT), Muslim Association of American Muslim Empowerment Network Puget Sound ( MAPS-AMEN) and the Ravidassia community, as well as dozens of other organizations, supported Sawant’s bill, which was introduced on 24 January.
UAW 4121 (a union of 6,000 academics, students, staff and post-doctoral fellows at the University of Washington, Seattle), the ACLU of Washington, well-known intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky and Cornel West also supported the fight to ban caste discrimination. in Seattle.
“We are part of history and today is an important day for caste equality, social justice and human rights. AIC president Ram Kumar said after the victory, “We thank the city of Seattle and Kshama Sawant for advocating for the oppressed caste.”
The AIC released a presser that their work will not stop and that the next step is to add race as a protected category to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“We are united as a South Asian American community in our commitment to heal from race. First Seattle, now Nation, Jai Bheem, Jai Savitri,” tweeted Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs.
Maya Kamble of AANA called upon the corporates to heed this call as well. “We expect Amazon and others headquartered in Seattle to actively add race to their internal protected category list as part of their global policy,” she said.
Councilor Sawant, who is not seeking re-election, Stressed on There is a need to create a movement to spread this victory across the country.
A city now protecting caste-based discrimination would mean a step towards protecting oppressed communities outside academia as well. Many cities and states can emulate the city of Seattle.
Ravi Shinde is a freelance writer and columnist. He writes on socio-political issues and is a supporter of diversity. Thoughts are personal.
(Editing by Therese Sudip)