Among Kshama Sawant’s earliest memories of the caste system was hearing her grandfather – a man whom she “otherwise loved dearly” – abuse her for calling her a lower-caste maidservant.
The Seattle City Council member, who grew up in an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin family in India, was 6 years old when she questioned her grandfather about it. He replied that his granddaughter “talks too much.”
Now 50, and an elected official in a city far away from India, Sawant has proposed an ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws.
If the council approves it on Tuesday, Seattle would become the first US city to specifically end race discrimination.
In India, the origins of the caste system can be traced back 3,000 years as a social hierarchy based on birth.
While the definition of caste has evolved, under Muslim and British rule, the suffering of those at the bottom of the caste pyramid – called Dalits – has continued.
In 1948, India Banned caste discrimination, and incorporated that policy into the Constitution in 1950. Yet the undercurrents of caste continue to exist in Indian society; Caste-based violence is rampant.
The American race debate has divided the South Asian community. Dalit activists point out that caste discrimination is prevalent in migrant communities, which is manifesting itself in social relations, housing, education and technology.
The United States is the second most popular destination for Indians living abroad, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which estimates the American diaspora to grow from about 206,000 in 1980 to about 2.7 million in 2021.
The group South Asian Americans Leading Together says that approximately 5.4 million South Asians live in the US – more than the 3.5 million counted in the 2010 census. Most trace their roots to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
There has been a strong push from some groups for anti-discrimination laws and policies targeting caste. They say that this will hurt the community which is already facing discrimination.
But in the past decade, Dalit activism has gained support from parts of the Indian diaspora. A recent trend: More Dalits telling their stories, energizing the movement.
Prem Pariyar, a Dalit Hindu from Nepal, gets emotional as he recalls escaping caste violence in his native village.
Pariyar, a social worker in California who works for Alameda County’s Human Relations Commission, said her family was attacked for taking water from a community tap.
He moved to America but says he could not escape discrimination.
“I am fighting so that Dalits are recognized as human beings,” he said.
In January 2022, Pariyar helped caste become a protected category in the California State University system.
In 2019, Brandeis University near Boston became the first college to include race in its non-discrimination policy.
Other universities have adopted similar measures.
Among the striking findings in a survey of 1,500 South Asians in the US by Equality Labs: 67% of Dalits responded that they were being treated unfairly at their workplace because of their caste, and 40% of Dalit students surveyed reported receiving educational benefits. reported facing discrimination in institutions. compared to 3% of upper caste respondents.
Also, 40% of Dalit respondents said they feel unwelcome at their place of worship because of their caste.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder of Equality Labs in Oakland, California, said caste needs to be a legally protected category because Dalits and others suffering from it currently do not have legal redress.
Her parents fled caste persecution in India in the 1970s.
“We South Asians have had a lot of difficult historical trauma,” she said.
In her book “The Trauma of Caste”, Soundararajan was devastated after learning that members of her family were considered “untouchables” in India.
The Dalit American community is not monolithic.
Aldrin Deepak, an India-born Dalit living near San Francisco, said he never faced caste discrimination during his 35 years in the US.
They have decorated local Hindu temple deities and hosted community members for Diwali celebrations.
“Making an issue where there is none is only creating more fractures in our community,” he said.
Nikunj Trivedi, president of the Coalition of Hindus of North America, considers the narrative around caste to be “completely twisted”.
“There is little understanding of Hinduism in this country,” Trivedi said.
“Many people believe that caste equates to Hinduism, which is not true. There is diversity of thought, belief, and practice within Hinduism.”
Trivedi said Seattle’s proposed policy is dangerous because it is based on anecdotal reports, not reliable data. He suggests that it would be difficult to verify one’s caste.
Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, called Seattle’s proposed ordinance unconstitutional because it targets an ethnic minority and “sends the message that we are an inherently bigoted community that must be monitored.”
Shukla says caste is already covered under existing anti-discrimination laws.
Nikhil Mandalparthi, deputy executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, disagrees.
His Washington, DC-based group supports the proposed ordinance. A United Nations report in 2016 said that at least 250 million people around the world still face caste discrimination, which manifests itself in various religions.
“We want South Asians to have equal access to opportunities and not face discrimination,” he said.
Council member Sawant said the existing anti-discrimination laws are inadequate and their law does not differentiate a community.
More than 150,000 South Asians live in Washington state, many of whom are employed in the tech sector, where Dalit activists say caste-based discrimination has not been resolved.
DB Sagar faced caste oppression growing up in Nepal in the 1990s. He fled to the US in 2007.
Sagar says he still bears the physical and emotional scars from it. His family was a Dalit and felt alienated from Hinduism and Buddhism.
“We were not allowed to participate in village festivals or enter temples,” he said. “You can change your religion, but still you cannot escape from your caste identity.”
Sagar, who started the International Commission for Dalit Rights, said he was shocked to encounter similar practices in social settings among the American diaspora and wanted to address caste discrimination under the US Civil Rights Act.
His organization is handling about 150 complaints of housing discrimination from Dalit Americans, he said.
Shahira Bangar, a resident of Arizona, is a Dalit and a Sikh. Her parents fled caste persecution in Punjab, India.
She felt neglected when her friends played upper-caste “Jat pride” music, and was hurt when a friend’s mother used her caste identity as an insult.
Bangar said, “I felt deeply hurt for not being accepted by my own community. I felt betrayed.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)