Seattle City Council Added Caste To The City’s Anti-discrimination Statutes

(CTN NEWS) – SEATTLE –  The Seattle City Council added caste to the city’s anti-discrimination statutes on Tuesday, making Seattle the first American city and the first city outside of South Asia to approve such a measure.

The South Asian diaspora populations in the United States have become more vocal in their calls to abolish caste-based discrimination, which divides people according to birth or heritage.

However, some Hindu Americans have opposed the movement, claiming the legislation unfairly targets their community.

Tuesday’s noisy hearing at Seattle City Hall resulted in a 6-1 vote.

With the majority of the council agrees that caste discrimination transcends national and religious boundaries and that those who experience caste discrimination in the United States will be left without protections if such laws are not passed.

Supporters Cheers For Their Win

The crowded room exposed the significant contrasts over this topic within the South Asian diaspora as it was filled with activists from both sides carrying banners, chanting slogans, and questioning speakers and city officials as they made their views.

The ordinance was supported by most people in attendance, with opposition from a loud minority.

The chamber exploded into cheers of “Jai Bhim,” which means “success for Bhim,” when council members voted to support the law. This is a rallying cry used by admirers of B.R.

Ambedkar, an Indian Dalit rights icon whose real name was Bhimrao. Dalit organizations and those who support them claim that caste prejudice is pervasive among American diaspora communities.

Manifesting as social exclusion and prejudice in areas like housing, education, and the IT industry, where South Asians play important roles.

Seattle Becomes The First U.S. City To Ban Discrimination

Yogesh Mane, a resident of Seattle who was raised in India as an untouchable, sobbed when he heard the council’s decision.

I’m moved since this is the first time a law like this has been passed outside South Asia, he remarked. “This is a historic occasion.”

The council vote was “a culture battle that has been won” by Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Oakland, California-based Equality Labs, whose advocacy work continues advancing caste discrimination laws and community partners.

Around 200 organizations from Seattle and across the nation supported us, she claimed. “It sends a strong message that Dalits are not the only ones. The South Asian community has come together to declare that we wish to get past the caste trauma.

The only Indian American on the City Council and socialist Council Member Kshama Sawant stated that the legislation she sponsored did not target any one community but considered how caste discrimination transcends national and religious boundaries.

Sawant claimed that more than 4,000 emails favoring the rule were sent to the council.

“Over the last two weeks, we’ve heard hundreds of heartbreaking experiences that have demonstrated to us that caste discrimination is very real in Seattle,” she stated.

The lone dissenting council member, Sara Nelson, concurred with opponents and referred to the legislation as “a reckless, damaging answer to an issue for which we have no data or research.”

She warned that this would increase anti-Hindu prejudice and discourage firms from hiring South Asians. There is a significant rift within the affected community regarding this matter.

In response to Nelson’s comment that the ordinance would also drag the city into legal disputes, Sawant said, “Bring it on.” According to Sawant, avoiding lawsuits is not the best method to bring about advancement or change.

Councilwoman Lisa Herbold questioned the claim made by the law’s opponents that it unfairly targets Hindus and individuals of Indian origin.

She argued that declaring laws against gender discrimination single out all men. And the fact that only a small portion of the population experiences caste discrimination doesn’t make it any less significant.

A coalition of Hindus of North America representative Shobha Swamy expressed her disappointment with the council’s discussions and line of questions. About 100 organizations reportedly supported the group, according to the group.

Swami arrived by plane from Atlanta and claimed that “due diligence wasn’t done.”

A San Francisco Bay Area IT worker named C.H. Srikrishna expressed concern about the effects this ordinance would have on the South Asian population.

He added, “I also want discrimination to stop. Yet, we must first confirm the existence of pervasive discrimination.”

Hindu Srikrishna feels that the regulation specifically targets his religion.

He said you indirectly condemn Hinduism when you claim that it started 2,000 years ago. “It irritates me. I feel cheated.

Sanjay Patel, a tech business entrepreneur from the Seattle area, claimed that he has never experienced caste-based prejudice while living in the United States and that the ordinance hurts him since it makes him think of a caste identity, which he believed to be extinct.

I worry that firms won’t want to hire South Asians because of this rule, he remarked.

Several activists lined up outside City Hall on Tuesday morning in the chilly weather and blustery winds to address the council before the vote.

Almost 300 people had asked to speak in person and remotely at the meeting, but the council limited public comment. Before debates and the vote, they listened to around half of the remarks.

A social hierarchy based on one’s profession and place of birth, the caste system in India dates back more than 3,000 years. Under Muslim and British administrations, this structure has developed over the years.

Those at the bottom of the caste system, known as Dalits, have continued to suffer. Since 1948, after India’s independence from British rule, caste discrimination has been prohibited.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, which forecasts that the U.S. diaspora will grow from about 206,000 people in 1980 to roughly 2.7 million people in 2021, the U.S. is the second most popular destination for Indians who are living overseas.

According to the organization South Asian Americans Leading Together, there are now 5.4 million South Asians living in the country, an increase from the 3.5 million recorded in the 2010 census.

The majority can trace their ancestry to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Some college and university systems have taken action to forbid caste discrimination over the last three years.

In its nondiscrimination policy, Brandeis University in the Boston area became the first college in the United States in December 2019.

Similar policies have been enacted by the University of California, Davis, Colby College, Brown University, and the California State University System.

By its agreement with the graduate student union, Harvard University implemented caste protections for student workers in 2021.

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