About Bloody Time

Seattle has mast a law making caste a protected class, making caste-based discrimination illegal, making it the first municipality in the nation to do so.

This initiative was pushed by council person, and Indian immigrant, Kshama Sawant. (It should be noted that in interviews Swant has noted that she is a Brahman, so this is an action against her own personal privilege)

Member of the Indian community (mostly high caste) argued that there was no caste discrimination, and that this would lead to additional discrimination against South Asians in the United States, which sounds an awful lot like the statements by the religious right who claim that the real bigotry is interfering with their "right" to descriminate:

Seattle made history Tuesday as the first city in the U.S. to expressly ban caste-based discrimination after an outpouring of input from South Asian Americans.

An ordinance introduced by District 3 Councilmember Kshama Sawant — Seattle’s only elected socialist and the only Indian American on the council — added caste to the list of statuses protected under Seattle’s existing anti-discrimination policies.

“This bill is not technically complicated, it’s a very simple question: Should discrimination based on caste be allowed to continue in Seattle?” Sawant said Tuesday, noting that she hopes the decision will be a “beacon” for other cities to follow suit.

………

Caste is a hierarchical system, stemming from Hinduism in India, in which societal status is assigned to an individual at birth. Of the five main caste groups, those on the lowest rung of the system, members of the oppressed Dalit caste, are deemed “untouchables,” while the Brahmins, known as the priestly caste, reside at the top. There are thousands of subcastes, and while India officially banned the system, its influence is still felt in South Asia and by South Asians in America.

………

Opponents of the ordinance argue that the law will discriminate against Hindus and that with more than 2,000 different castes, it’s too complicated of an issue to enforce. Others thought it was hasty or unnecessary.

“Americans of South Asian descent aren’t born or raised with intrinsic knowledge of caste,” opponent Neha Singh said, later calling the ordinance “Hinduphobic.”

“This ordinance is attempting to create a formula in a space where no one knows what they’re talking about,” Singh added.

It should be noted here that Singh is a name that is generally associated with a family of the Brahman Caste, though obviously this is not definitive.

It is human nature to try to protect one's privilege, no matter how specious the argument.

Before the vote Tuesday, Sawant’s office denounced the argument that the policy would harm Hindus, comparing the stance to that of Christians who claim same-sex marriage imposes on the religious rights of those who oppose it.

“Everybody understands this is a right-wing argument,” Sawant said in a statement published before the vote. “Genuine progressives support freedom of religion, but also understand that that cannot be an excuse to abuse LGBTQ people or discriminate against them.”

………

Many of the Dalit or caste-oppressed individuals who spoke in favor of the ordinance withheld some or all of their names in public comment out of fear of retaliation from current employers. Groups ranging from religious organizations and higher education groups to the Alphabet Workers Union of Google employees spoke more freely in a joint letter sent to the City Council.

Given the back-tracking by the current Indian government on caste protections, and its steadfast opposition to counting caste members in the upcoming national census, it will be very interesting to see how this effects the upcoming Indian elections.