posted about this earlier, but didn’t stress that a socialist alternative member was the driving force
A Seattle City Council resolution against caste discrimination is an important step in this journey.
On Tuesday, February 21, the Seattle City Council will make history if it votes yes to include caste in the city’s non-discrimination policies. Outlawing caste discrimination would be the culmination of years of Dalit feminist research and organising that has exposed caste oppression in the United States and has centred Dalit healing in the battle to end caste discrimination everywhere.
Caste is a hierarchical social system dating back thousands of years and practised throughout South Asia among people of all religions. It negatively affects more than 1.9 billion people worldwide and at least 5.7 million South Asian Americans, degrading their quality of life.
It determines who can worship where, education and career opportunities, and even personal relationships — in essence, caste shapes entire lives. While caste-based discrimination in the US is not as widespread and overt as in India, where it has its roots, it exists here, too.
South Asian immigrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Maldives, and indentured communities all report experiencing caste discrimination in the US. The Equality Labs 2016 Caste in the United States survey found that one in four Dalits in the US had faced verbal or physical assault and two out of every three said they had faced discrimination at work.
This data is further supported by a forthcoming report from the National Academic Coalition for Caste Equity and Equality Labs, with the preliminary analysis of a new survey revealing that within US higher education, four in five caste-oppressed students, staff, and faculty reported experiencing caste discrimination at the hands of their dominant-caste peers.
Further, three in four caste-oppressed stakeholders did not report that discrimination in their universities or colleges because caste was not added as a protected category, or because their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion departments lacked the competency to address their concerns.
This data is backed by troubling testimonies of caste discrimination in workplaces, schools, places of worship and businesses.
It can no longer be denied: caste discrimination exists in the US and must be fought with civil rights enforcement.
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