Debate is swirling in California over a caste bias bill awaiting the governor’s review, as this form of discrimination gains new attention across the country in legislatures, courtrooms, and even at the American Bar Association.
Sacramento is the hub of the action after California legislators passed the nation’s first state measure (SB 403) explicitly banning caste bias in the workplace, housing, schools, and public places.
A signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would be a milestone for advocates, but a blow to opponents within the state’s South Asian population who have said the bill would have downstream anti-Hindu effects. Newsom hasn’t taken a position on the bill publicly, and has until Oct 14 to sign or veto it.
US discrimination law is still at the early stages of contemplating how to address caste bias, an issue that isn’t well understood in the states. Seattle became the first US city to add caste to its nondiscrimination ordinance earlier this year, and major universities including Brown, California State, and Harvard have added caste bias provisions to their diversity policies.
ABA delegates passed a resolution in August encouraging the expansion of state and federal anti-bias laws to explicitly include caste.
Proponents of SB 403 have been vocal in their support, with a coalition of advocates declaring a hunger strike until Newsom acts.
People from Dalit backgrounds—considered the lowest rung of India’s caste system—tend to hide their backgrounds and even their last names in their US workplaces and social lives for fear of discrimination, said Kiran Kaur Gill, executive director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which supports the California bill.
Caste discrimination “could look like addressing somebody in language that is very derogatory. It could look like not wanting to share certain things. It could look like exclusion,” said Gill. “In some cases in work, it could look like not promoting somebody because of…
Read the full article here