Ashish Ranjan
Seattle, in the United States, became the first city outside of India to implement a law prohibiting caste-based discrimination with the passage of a landmark statute.Last month, Kshama Sawant, an Indian-American politician, economist, and upper-caste Hindu, introduced the resolution.
It was unanimously authorized by the Seattle City Council by a vote of six to one.Seattle is not only the first city in the United States to prohibit caste discrimination, but also the first jurisdiction outside of South Asia to do so.
Today, Seattle becomes the first jurisdiction outside of South Asia to prohibit caste discrimination. Sawant said on Monday.Sawant stated, “Seattle’s law now prohibits businesses from discriminating on the basis of caste with regard to hiring, tenure, promotion, working conditions, and wages.”
It will prohibit caste-based discrimination in public accommodations such as hotels, public transportation, public restrooms, and retail establishments, she said, adding that the law also prohibits caste-based discrimination in housing leases, property sales, and mortgage loans.
Sawant described it as the most significant victory for the global struggle against caste oppression in many decades, adding that it has opened the floodgates for a potential ban on caste discrimination in other U.S. cities and states.
“It is not surprising that policies against caste discrimination have been proposed in Toronto and California since we won in Seattle,” she said.Sawant stated that future victories are not assured if activists and working people do not employ the same type of fighting strategy they used to win in Seattle.
“It is not a mere coincidence that this unprecedented advancement occurred in this metropolis. Sawant explained, “We won because Socialist Alternative and I use our Council office as a vehicle to build independent movements of working people united against the establishment that represents big business and the status quo.”
Sawant, who emigrated from Pune to the United States in the late 1990s, stated that the next stage would be to implement this new law in the city.
“We must continue to build our movement in order to exert pressure on the courts in order to win a case against caste discrimination using this law, which will be crucial in compelling significant corporations to actually comply with it. In May, my Council office will conduct a public hearing at which working people will be invited to speak,” she explained.
Last week, California State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American to be elected to the state legislature, also introduced a bill to prohibit caste discrimination explicitly.Numerous Indian-Americans fear that codifying caste in public policy will exacerbate Hinduophobia in the United States.
Ten Hindu sanctuaries and five statues, including those of Mahatma Gandhi and the Maratha emperor Shivaji, have been vandalized across the United States over the past three years as an intimidation tactic against the Hindu community.
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Indian-Americans are the second-largest community of immigrants in the United States.The 2018 American Community Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau indicates that there are 4,2 million individuals of Indian descent living in the United States.
Caste discrimination was outlawed in 1948 and enshrined in the Indian Constitution in 1950.
