Seattle has recently made history by being the first city in the United States to enact a ban on caste-based discrimination. The city council voted to approve the legislation, which was authored by Councilwoman Kshama Sawant. Sawant believes that fighting against caste bias is intertwined with fighting against all forms of oppression.
Advocates of the new law argue that it is necessary to prevent caste bias from becoming more common in the US. The caste system, which is deeply entrenched in Hindu society, has existed for over three milliniums and is comprised of inflexible hierarchical groups.
Similar bans on caste-based discrimination have already been implemented on US university campuses in recent years. Seattle's legislation, however, goes further in protecting against such discrimination in the wider community.
According to Sawant, caste discrimination is not limited to other countries, but is experienced by South Asian American and other immigrant working people in Seattle and other cities across the US, including in the tech sector. Sawant, who grew up in an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin household in India and witnessed such discrimination, is the only Indian American on the Seattle city council and has been a vocal proponent of this legislation.
However, some Hindu American groups have opposed the new law, arguing that it is unnecessary as US law already prohibits discrimination of this kind. The Washington DC-based Hindu American Federation issued an open letter praising the ordinance's goals but contending that it unfairly singles out and targets an entire community based on national origin and ancestry for disparate treatment. They also pointed out that Indian Americans make up less than 2% of Washington state's population, and that there is little evidence of widespread caste-based discrimination.
The US is the second most popular destination for Indians living abroad, according to the Migration Policy Institute think tank. Despite the opposition, the new law in Seattle represents an important step towards protecting vulnerable communities from discrimination based on caste.
