Seattle Become First US City To Ban Caste Discrimination

Seattle becomes the first city in the United States to ban caste discrimination after its local council passed a resolution to add caste to its non-discrimination policy. The resolution was moved by an Indian-American politician and economist, Kshama Sawant.

Sawant’s resolution was approved by the Seattle City Council with a vote of six to one. The results of the vote could have far-reaching implications for the issue of caste discrimination in the US.

Seattle Bans Caste Discrimination

Sawant, soon after the resolution was voted, said, "It’s official: Our movement has won a historic, first-in-the-nation ban on caste discrimination in Seattle! Now we need to build a movement to spread this victory around the country."

The The 49-year-old politician has been a member of the Socialist Alternative since 2014 and is the first and only member of the party to be elected to public office. Formerly, Sawant pursued a career as a software engineer before becoming an economics instructor in Seattle.

Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal voiced her support for the move. "Caste discrimination has no place in society anywhere in the world, including America. That is why some colleges and universities have banned it on campuses, and workers are fighting for their rights and their dignity in cases involving caste discrimination," she said.

The brains behind the anti-caste discrimination resolution, "Equality Labs," have been leading a nationwide campaign. "Love has won over hate as Seattle has become the first city in the nation to ban caste discrimination. We have banned rape threats, death threats, disinformation, and bigotry," they said.

The movement was created with a coalition of 200 organisations in support of its efforts over the issue of caste discrimination.

The Equity Labs said, "Central to this coalition is a network of over 30 anti-caste Ambedkarite organizations." A few of them include the Ambedkar King Study Circle, the Ambedkar International Center, the Ambedkarite Buddhist Association of Texas, and the Boston Study Group.

The Hindu American Foundation, which campaigned against the resolution, said "singling out our South Asians and the addition of caste to the non-discriminatory policy violates the very policy it now amends."

Suhag Shukla, cofounder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said that by passing this resolution, Seattle has violated the US Constitution guarantee of providing equal protection, which prohibits the state from treating people disparately based on their nationality, ethnicity, or origin.

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