Caste discrimination in the United States

{{Short description|Inherited discrimination}} {{Use American English|date=January 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} '''Caste discrimination in the United States''' is a form of discrimination based on the social hierarchy which is determined by a person's birth.<ref> {{Cite news |title=Why Is Caste Inequality Still Legal in America? (Guest essay) |first1=Paula |last1=Chakravarty |first2=Ajantha |last2=Subramanian |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 25, 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/opinion/caste-discrimination-us-federal-protection.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525191324/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/opinion/caste-discrimination-us-federal-protection.html |archive-date=25 May 2021 |id={{ProQuest|2531700704}}}} </ref> Though the use of the term caste is more prevalent in South Asia and Bali, in the United States, South Asian Americans also use the term caste.<ref name="Kenneth Cooper"> {{cite news |first=Kenneth J. |last=Cooper |title=Indians have imported casteism to the US & a black journalist writes on the need to ban it |newspaper=The Print |date=March 27, 2018 |url=https://theprint.in/opinion/a-black-journo-on-why-us-civil-rights-laws-must-ban-casteism-against-dalits/45011/}} </ref><ref name=NPR> {{Cite news |first=Sonia |last=Paul |title=When Caste Discrimination Comes To The United States |newspaper=NPR News |date=April 25, 2018 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/04/25/605030018/when-caste-discrimination-comes-to-the-united-states}} </ref>

Caste is not officially recognized by law in the United States, except in Seattle, Washington. On February 21, 2023, Seattle became the first U.S. jurisdiction to add caste to its list of categories protected against discrimination.<ref> {{Cite web |first=Paul |last=Best |title=Seattle becomes first US city to ban discrimination based on caste |date=21 February 2023 |website=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-becomes-first-us-city-ban-discrimination-based-caste}} </ref> In other places such as California,<ref> {{Cite web |first=Harmeet |last=Kaur |title=California governor vetoes bill that would ban caste discrimination |date=9 October 2023 |website=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/09/us/california-caste-discrimination-bill-veto/index.html}} </ref> caste is implicitly covered as a subset of other categories under anti-discrimination laws. The existence of caste discrimination in the U.S. tech sector was also acknowledged by a group of Dalit female engineers from Microsoft, Google, Apple and other tech companies. In 2021, the student body of California State University system passed a resolution against caste discrimination.

==Overview==

===History of caste in the United States=== The U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790 limited citizenship to "free white persons," forcing immigrants to determine their racial classification in federal courts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Erika |date=1999 |title=Immigrants and Immigration Law: A State of the Field Assessment |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27502472 |journal=Journal of American Ethnic History |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=85–114 |issn=0278-5927}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=87}}<ref name=":3" />{{Reference page|page=588}} In 1910, the Asiatic Exclusion League argued that people of Asian origin should be denied citizenship through naturalization.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=Gary R. |date=1974 |title=The Forgotten Asian Americans: The East Indian Community in the United States |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3638433 |journal=Pacific Historical Review |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=576–596 |doi=10.2307/3638433 |issn=0030-8684}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=581}} The league described Hindu ancestry as "enslaved, effeminate, caste-ridden, and degraded" and Hindus as the "slaves of Creation."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chiu |first=Daina C. |date=1994 |title=The Cultural Defense: Beyond Exclusion, Assimilation, and Guilty Liberalism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3480939 |journal=California Law Review |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=1053–1125 |doi=10.2307/3480939 |issn=0008-1221|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Reference page|page=1066}}

In 1913, A. K. Mozumdar, an immigrant from Bengal living in Washington State, applied for United States citizenship. Mozumdar argued that as a high-caste Hindu of what he described as Aryan descent, he shared racial origins with Europeans. His application was accepted, making him one of the earliest South Asian immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship.<ref name=":2" />

In 1953, W. Norman Brown, founder of the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote that "a large number of Americans...have a picture of India as a land of meditating omphalopsychites, hypnotic swamis, naked ascetics, bejewelled princes of fabulous wealth and incomparable harems, gross superstition, bare-skinned, poverty-stricken, famine-ridden masses, where everyone is a beggar and caste is more important than life."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mukherjee |first=Sujit |date=1964 |title=Early American Images of India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45071168 |journal=India Quarterly |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=43–50 |issn=0974-9284}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=50}}

Caste discrimination may have accompanied immigrants to the US from India, Nepal and other South Asian countries.<ref name=":4" /> Based on the 2017 American Community Survey, about 5.9 million South Asians live in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Demographic Information |url=https://saalt.org/south-asians-in-the-us/demographic-information/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=South Asian Americans Leading Together |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite being one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups, caste discrimination may be underreported despite its potential influence on job opportunities and marriage prospects among South Asian immigrants.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} Indian migrants account for a large number of high-skilled workers in STEM fields, which could lead to an issue of caste discrimination in the workplace in areas such as Silicon Valley.<ref name="washingtonpost.com" /> Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Equality Labs, said, “Wherever South Asians go, they bring caste."<ref name=":5" />

===Race and caste=== Several observers see parallels between race in the United States and caste. When Martin Luther King, Jr. visited India in 1959, he was introduced by the principal of a school with Dalit students (then called "untouchables") as a "fellow untouchable from the United States of America". Although taken aback by this description, King agreed with it after reflection, thinking, "Yes, I am an untouchable, and every Negro in the United States of America is an untouchable."<ref name=":6" />{{Reference page|page=135}}<ref name=":4"> {{cite news |last=Wilkerson |first=Isabel |date=2020-07-28 |title=America's 'untouchables': the silent power of the caste system |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/28/untouchables-caste-system-us-race-martin-luther-king-india |newspaper=The Guardian}} </ref>

In ''Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents'', Isabel Wilkerson argues that racial stratification in the United States is best understood as a caste system, akin to those in India and in Nazi Germany.<ref name="Garner 2020"> {{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=July 31, 2020 |title=Isabel Wilkerson's 'Caste' Is an 'Instant American Classic' About Our Abiding Sin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/books/review-caste-isabel-wilkerson-origins-of-our-discontents.html |work=The New York Times}} </ref><ref name=":7" />

Caste activists in India have found common ground with the struggles of African Americans in the US.<ref name=":6"> {{Cite book |first=Nico |last=Slate |chapter=The Dalit Panthers: Race, Caste, and Black Power in India |title=Black Power beyond Borders: The Global Dimensions of the Black Power Movement |series=Contemporary Black History |editor=Nico Slate |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |pages=127–143 |via=Springer Link |doi=10.1057/9781137295064_7 |isbn=9781137295064 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137295064_7}} </ref> The activist group Dalit Panthers was inspired by the American Black Panther Party.<ref name=NPR/><ref> {{Cite book |last1=Michael |first1=S. M. |first2=Sebastian Maria |last2=Michael |title=Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-0-7619-3571-1 |page=172 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnyo1xPNwxwC&pg=PA172}} </ref>

===Legal position=== Caste is not explicitly recognized as a category under most anti-discrimination laws in the U.S. According to some commentators, this was because caste was an unknown concept when these laws were originally passed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-02-27 |title=Caste Bias Isn't Illegal In The United States. But This University Is Trying To Fight It |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2019-02-27/caste-bias-isnt-illegal-in-the-united-states-but-this-university-is-trying-to-fight-it |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305204530/https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2019-02-27/caste-bias-isnt-illegal-in-the-united-states-but-this-university-is-trying-to-fight-it |archive-date=2025-03-05 |access-date=2025-12-17 |work=GBH |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=Explained: Getting America to recognise caste: previous efforts, renewed push |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=October 16, 2020 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/getting-america-to-recognise-caste-previous-efforts-renewed-push-6495101/}}</ref><ref name="Kenneth Cooper"/> It has come to light only in recent times due to reports of discrimination.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kaur |first=Harmeet |date=2020-09-04 |title=Even in the US, South Asians say caste has proved hard to escape |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/us/caste-discrimination-us-trnd/index.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NYT May 2021">{{Cite news |last=Correal |first=Annie |title=Hindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 11, 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html}}</ref> Others have said that categories such as ancestry as in California law already cover caste discrimination.<ref name="Wire legal grounds" /> Legal scholars have also argued that caste discrimination is cognizable as race discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination.{{sfn|Krishnamurthi|Krishnaswami|2021|p=481}}

In August 2002, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination approved a resolution condemning caste or descent-based discrimination.<ref> {{cite news |last=Mayell |first=Hillary |title=India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, Discrimination |newspaper=National Geographic |date=2003-06-02 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/indias-untouchables-face-violence-discrimination|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220081329/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/indias-untouchables-face-violence-discrimination|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 20, 2021}}</ref>

In February 2023, Seattle became the first city in the United States to explicitly ban caste-based discrimination.<ref> {{cite web | last=Bharath | first=Deepa| title=Seattle becomes first city in U.S. to ban caste discrimination | website=FOX13 News | date=2023-02-21 | url=https://www.q13fox.com/news/seattle-becomes-first-city-in-u-s-to-ban-caste-discrimination | access-date=2023-02-22}} </ref>

====California Senate Bill 403==== In 2023, California State Senator Aisha Wahab introduced SB 403, a bill that would have made California the first state in the nation to include caste in the list of legally protected categories against discrimination.<ref> {{cite news |last=Patel |first=Savita |date=23 March 2023 |title=California considers ban on caste discrimination |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-65048026 |newspaper=BBC News}} </ref> The bill defined caste as "an individual's perceived position in a system of social stratification on the basis of inherited status," which could be determined by several factors including the "inability or restricted ability to alter inherited status; socially enforced restrictions on marriage, private and public segregation, and discrimination; and social exclusion on the basis of perceived status."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill Text - SB-403 Discrimination on the basis of ancestry. |url=https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB403 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=leginfo.legislature.ca.gov}}</ref> SB 403 added caste to existing anti-discrimination protections in housing, employment, and public education.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> The bill did not mention a specific ethnicity or religion.<ref name=":9" /> The bill was supported by some Dalit rights groups and opposed by some Hindu organizations, who claimed the bill was unnecessary and unfairly singled out Hindu Americans.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

The state legislature approved the bill, but it was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who wrote that pre-existing anti-discrimination laws already prohibited caste discrimination.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Osgood |first=Brian |title=California passes bill banning caste-based discrimination |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/6/california-state-legislature-passes-bill-banning-caste-based-discrimination |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Aljazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |last=Hosseini |first=Raheem |date=October 7, 2023 |title=Newsom surprise veto deals crushing blow to caste-based civil rights movement |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/caste-discrimination-veto-18369289.php |access-date=October 9, 2023 |work=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>

==Studies on caste in the United States== According to a 2003 study by the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, 1.5% of Indian immigrants were Dalits or members of lower classes.<ref name="WGBH"> {{cite news |author=Tinku Ray |title=The US isn't safe from the trauma of caste bias |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2019-03-08/us-isn-t-safe-trauma-caste-bias |newspaper=WGBH News |date=March 8, 2019}}</ref> Another 2016 study found that the 'high' or 'dominant' castes make up more than 90% of Indian migrants.<ref> {{Cite news |first=Patrick |last=French |title=All Come to Look for America (Review of ''The Other One Percent: Indians in America'' by Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh) |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=December 10, 2016 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-other-one-percent-indians-in-america-book-review-migration-4419534/ }}</ref>{{efn|In contrast, in India only 4% identify themselves as Brahmin, and 26% as General Category, which means that 70% of the population is from non-dominant castes.<ref>{{Citation |chapter=Attitudes about caste in India |title=Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation |chapter-url=https://www.pewforum.org/2021/06/29/attitudes-about-caste/ |publisher=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |date=June 29, 2021}}</ref>}}

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a study in 2021 and reported that 47% of Hindu respondents identified with a caste. The research concluded that the majority of respondents (53%) do not identify with caste, especially among those born in America. Of those that identified with a caste, roughly 1% each identified with scheduled caste (dalit) and scheduled tribe (adivasi) categories.<ref name="Carnegie" />

A survey on caste discrimination conducted by Equality Labs{{efn|Described as a "Dalit rights organisation"<ref name="The Hindu opposes"> Sriram Lakshman, [https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/group-opposes-protection-from-caste-discrimination-in-california-varsitys-faculty-union/article38319866.ece Group opposes protection from caste discrimination in California Varsity's faculty union], The Hindu, 24 January 2022. </ref> and as "a nonprofit organization focused on ending what it calls caste apartheid".<ref> Nani Sahra Walker, [https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-07-04/fight-to-add-caste-as-protected-category-in-us Even in the U.S. he couldn't escape the label ‘untouchable’], Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2021. </ref>}} found 67% of Indian Dalits living in the U.S. reported that they faced caste-based harassment at the workplace, with 27% reporting verbal or physical assault based on their caste.{{sfn|Equality Labs, 2018|pp=20, 27}} The survey also documents personal anecdotes about discrimination and isolation at schools, workplaces, temples and within communities.<ref name="WGBH" /> The Carnegie Endowment researchers pointed out that the study used a non-representative snowball sampling method to identify participants, which might have skewed the results in favour of those with strong views about caste.<ref name="Carnegie" /><ref name="The Hindu opposes" />

The Carnegie Endowment study, using a sample from YouGov, found 5% of Indian Americans reporting they faced caste discrimination.{{efn|This compares with 1–2% people identifying with scheduled castes/tribes.}} A third of them said that they faced discrimination from other Indian Americans, another third said they faced it from non-Indian Americans, and a final third said that they faced it from both Indian and non-Indian Americans. The researchers found this response perplexing as non-Indians would not have had caste as a salient category.<ref name="Carnegie"> {{citation |first1=Sumitra |last1=Badrinathan |first2=Devesh |last2=Kapur |first3=Jonathan |last3=Kay |first4=Milan |last4=Vaishnav |title=Social Realities of Indian Americans: Results From the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |date=9 June 2021 |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2021/06/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-the-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey?lang=en }} </ref>

Homophily based on caste, i.e., tendency to associate with the people of the same caste, was reported by 21% of the respondents; 24% said that they did not know the caste of the people they associated with. The remainder said that they associate with some or most people of their caste (23% and 31% respectively).<ref name="Carnegie" />

The Ambedkar King Study Circle collected testimonies of how caste consciousness and discrimination are practiced by the Indian diaspora. The testimonies record various types of discriminatory practices in schools, workplaces, social gatherings and neighborhoods. Usually this discrimination borders on the sense of notional and real 'untouchability'.<ref> {{Cite news |title=After case against Cisco, US group gathers evidence against caste discrimination in Silicon Valley |newspaper=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/after-case-against-cisco-us-group-gathers-evidence-against-caste-discrimination-in-silicon-valley/articleshow/77225914.cms |id={{ProQuest|2427577235}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Testimonies of Practice of Caste in the USA |website=Ambedkar King Study Circle |date=2021-10-09 |url=https://akscusa.org/testimonies-of-practice-of-caste-in-the-usa/}}</ref>

===Psychosocial toll=== Caste-based discrimination imposes psychological distress on its victims, especially from lower castes. Dalits suffer at the hand of discrimination, being referred to as "untouchable" and "dirty".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bajoria |first=Jayshree |date=2014-04-22 |title="They Say We're Dirty" |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/04/22/they-say-were-dirty/denying-education-indias-marginalized |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}</ref> Dalits are often bullied by upper-caste classmates and treated differently by teachers, which is trauma that translates from one generation to the next.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Mary |date=2023-09-27 |title='Once we win California, the nation is next': what a caste discrimination ban means for Americans |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/27/california-caste-discrimination-law-south-asian-civil-rights |access-date=2023-10-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> South Asians report experiencing diminished self-esteem, feelings of isolation, and enduring anxiety and fear. The Equality Labs study in the US found that those from lower castes "fear retaliation and worry about being "outed" and hence "hide their caste."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-09 |title=The divisive debate over California's anti-caste bill |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65819688 |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> This fear of being outed can manifest in several ways; for example, some families opt to change their surnames to one considered more "caste neutral" (i.e. "Kumar", "Singh", "Khan") in order to avoid ridicule and isolation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-02-21 |title=Using surnames to conceal identity |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/using-surnames-to-conceal-identity/articleshow/4162892.cms |access-date=2023-10-09 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> The long-term impact on mental health can be severe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thapa |first=Tirtha |date=24 July 2014 |title=Living with Diabetes: Lay Narratives as Idioms of Distress among the Low-Caste Dalit of Nepal |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01459740.2012.699985 |journal=Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=428–440 |doi=10.1080/01459740.2012.699985 |pmid=24964715 |via=Taylor & Francis Online|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Discrimination issues==

===Discrimination issues in the workplace=== The existence of caste discrimination in the US tech sector was acknowledged by a group of Dalit female engineers from Microsoft, Google, Apple and other tech companies.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news |last=Tiku |first=Nitasha |title=India's engineers have thrived in Silicon Valley. So has its caste system |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 27, 2020 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/27/indian-caste-bias-silicon-valley/ |id={{ProQuest|2454517954}}}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=A statement on caste bias in Silicon Valley from 30 Dalit women engineers |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 27, 2020 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/a-statement-on-caste-bias-in-silicon-valley-from-30-dalit-women-engineers/d692b4f8-2710-41c3-9d5f-ea55c13bcc50/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_16}} </ref>

Ambedkar King Study Circle (AKSC), a US based activist group, along with 15 other organizations, sent an appeal to top American companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft demanding that the CEOs intervene immediately to address the issue of caste discrimination. The AKSC wanted the companies to bring in caste sensitivity training similar to the gender, race, sexuality training practices. AKSC emphasized fair and equal opportunity recruitment, retention and appraisal policies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solidarity Statement to End Caste Practices in Silicon Valley and the USA |publisher=India Civil Watch International (ICWI) |url=https://indiacivilwatch.org/petitions-4/caste-discrimination-in-usa/ |access-date=2022-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Release IAAAC_Aug12_2020 |date=2020-08-12 |access-date=2022-02-04 |website=Ambedkar King Study Circle |url=https://akscusa.org/press-release-iaaac_aug12_2020/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=When fight against casteism moves to the US |newspaper=TOI+, The Times of India |date=August 27, 2020 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/when-fight-against-casteism-moves-to-the-us/articleshow/77757814.cms}}</ref>

In May 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Akshardham in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey to investigate slavery and forced labor of lower caste Indian workers.<ref>{{cite news |first=Shubhangi |last=Misra |title=Swaminarayan temple in US raided, workers taken from India treated as forced labour: Report |newspaper=The Print |date=May 12, 2021 |url=https://theprint.in/world/swaminarayan-temple-in-us-raided-workers-taken-from-india-treated-as-forced-labour-report/656884/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Daniella |last=Silva |title=Hindu temple in New Jersey accused of 'shocking violations' in forced-labor lawsuit |newspaper=NBC News |date=May 12, 2021 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hindu-temple-new-jersey-accused-shocking-violations-forced-labor-lawsuit-n1267041 }}</ref><ref name="NYT May 2021" /> The workers were brought to the U.S. on religious visas. The FBI removed about 90 workers from the site.<ref>{{cite news |first=Evan |last=Simko-Bednarski |title=Lawsuit claims New Jersey Hindu temple was built on forced labor |newspaper=CNN |date=2021-05-12 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/12/us/new-jersey-baps-hindu-temple-suit/index.html}}</ref>

In April 2022, Google cancelled a planned talk by Thenmozhi Soundararajan as part of its Diversity Equity and Inclusivity programme. It was allegedly done under pressure from employees, accusing her of being Hinduphobic and anti-Hindu. Some felt their lives would be endangered if the talk went ahead. Rather than bringing their community together, it caused division and rancor, according to the Google spokesperson. The senior Google manager who invited Soundararajan resigned over the incident.<ref> Nitasha Tiku, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/02/google-caste-equality-labs-tanuja-gupta/ Google's plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’], The Washington Post, 2 June 2022.</ref><ref> [https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/google-cancelled-dalit-activist-talk-caste-after-pressure-employees-164630 Google cancelled Dalit activist's talk on caste after pressure from employees], The News Minute, 3 June 2022.</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=O’Leary |first=Lizzie |title=Silicon Valley Has a Caste Problem |newspaper=Slate Magazine |date=2022-07-18 |url=https://slate.com/technology/2022/07/caste-silicon-valley-thenmozhi-soundararajan.html}}</ref>

===Cisco lawsuit=== In 2020, caste-based discrimination issues in Silicon Valley came to the surface with a lawsuit by the State of California against Cisco Systems filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH, later named Civil Rights Department).<ref name="Wire legal grounds">{{cite news |author=Anahita Mukherji |title=California's Legal Ground in Battling Caste Discrimination Takes Centre Stage in Historic Cisco Case |newspaper=The Wire |date=10 March 2021 |url=https://thewire.in/caste/cisco-case-caste-discrimination-silicon-valley-ambedkar-organisations}}</ref> The Department sued Cisco and two of its senior engineers for discrimination against a Dalit engineer (identified as "John Doe"), who alleged that he received lower wages and fewer opportunities because of his caste.<ref>{{cite news |title=California sues Cisco over discrimination against dalit employee |newspaper=The Week |date=July 1, 2020 |url=https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2020/07/01/california-sues-cisco-over-discrimination-against-dalit-employee.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Rishi Iyengar |title=California sues Cisco for alleged discrimination against employee because of caste |newspaper=CNN |date=July 1, 2020 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/tech/cisco-lawsuit-caste-discrimination/index.html}}</ref>

After an initial filing in a United States District Court, the department refiled in Santa Clara County Superior Court in October 2021<ref>{{citation |author=Sunita Sohrabji |title=Caste Discrimination in Silicon Valley? Indian Americans Divided Over Issue at Hearing |newspaper=India West |volume=XLVI |number=28 |date=May 21, 2021}}</ref> Cisco filed a demurrer asking for dismissal on the grounds that caste and ethnicity were not protected categories under the Fair Employment and Housing Act of California. The Ambedkar International Center and other Dalit organizations filed an amicus curiae brief, arguing that the California law does in fact prohibit caste discrimination.<ref name="Wire legal grounds" /> The Hindu nationalist advocacy group Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed a claim in a United States District Court stating that the California department infringed on the civil rights of Hindus by asserting that Hinduism mandates caste discrimination.<ref name="PTI engineers">{{citation |author=Lalit K. Jha |title=Caste discrimination case against 2 Indian-origin engineers dismissed in US |newspaper=The Print |date=11 April 2023 |agency=PTI |url=https://theprint.in/world/caste-discrimination-case-against-2-indian-origin-engineers-dismissed-in-us/1510644/}}</ref>

In April 2023, the California Civil Rights Department dismissed (withdrew) its case against the two engineers accused of discrimination, following an order from the Santa Clara Superior County Court, though it continued with the case against the Cisco corporation.<ref name="AP engineers"> {{citation |author=Deepa Bharath |title=Cisco still faces caste bias suit; engineers' case dismissed |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 April 2023 |agency=AP |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/10/cisco-caste-discrimination-lawsuit-california/5ce03bc4-d7f1-11ed-aebd-3fd2ac4c460a_story.html }} </ref> According to court filings, the accused lead of the division had actively recruited "John Doe", offering him a generous starting package and stock grants, knowing all along his caste background. He had also recruited other Dalits, including the one that was eventually chosen for the leadership role that John Doe was denied.<ref name="PTI engineers" /><ref name=":7">Mark Chandler, [https://blogs.cisco.com/news/protecting-our-people Protecting Our People], Cisco Blogs, 3 November 2020.</ref> HAF reviewed the case files and alleged that the California department's narrative in the case was full of lies.<ref>Suhag A. Shukla, [https://theprint.in/opinion/dismissal-of-cisco-case-proves-engineers-were-targetted-because-they-were-hindu-brahmin/1532070/ Dismissal of Cisco case proves engineers were targetted because they were Indian], The Print, 21 April 2023.</ref>

===Discrimination issues in education=== In 2015, California State Board of Education initiated a regular ten-year public review of the school curriculum framework.<ref name="NewsClick Cisco Case">{{cite news |title=Cisco Case Shows Indians Still Take Caste Where they Go |url=https://www.newsclick.in/Cisco-Case-Shows-Indians-Caste-America |newspaper=NewsClick |date=July 15, 2020}}</ref> The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and a coalition of other Hindu activists sought to literally erase the word "Dalit" from the syllabus,<ref>{{cite news |author=Mridula Chari |url=https://scroll.in/article/808394/california-to-decide-today-whether-hindu-groups-can-dictate-what-dalits-call-themselves-in-textbooks |title=Last hearing today: Should the word 'Dalit' be used in California textbooks? |newspaper=Scroll.in |date=19 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Thenmozhi |last1=Soundararajan |first2=Abdullah |last2=Momin |first3=Harjit |last3=Kaur |first4=Anasuya |last4=Sengupta |title=Erasing tolerance? HAF's changes can only be described as ahistorical edits to history books (blog) |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=July 1, 2020 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/california-education-board-erasing-tolerance-hindu-nationalism-targets-california-textbooks/}}</ref> which was contested by a coalition of interfaith, multi-racial, inter-caste groups called "South Asian Histories for All".<ref name="NewsClick Cisco Case"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrington |first=Theresa |title=Hindus urge California state board to reject textbooks due to negative images |url=https://edsource.org/2017/hindus-urge-california-state-board-to-reject-textbooks-due-to-negative-images/589996 |date=2017 |website=EdSource}}</ref>{{relevance inline|date=January 2023|reason=Where is "discrimination" in this episode?}}

In 2021, the student body of California State University system, representing half a million students, passed a resolution seeking a ban on caste-based discrimination.<ref name="Al Jazeera resolution">{{cite news |last=Naik |first=Raqib Hameed |title=US students pass resolution to end discrimination against Dalits |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/16/california-student-body-demands-ban-on-caste-based-discrimination |newspaper=Al Jazeera}}</ref> The campaign was spearheaded by Prem Pariyar, a Nepali origin Dalit student, who came to the US in 2015 escaping persecution in his home country, and claimed that he faced discrimination in the US as well.<ref name="Al Jazeera resolution"/> For the affected students, casteism is manifested through slurs, microaggressions and social exclusion.<ref name=CNN/> The resolution cited the survey by Equality Labs where 25 percent of Dalits reported having faced verbal or physical assaults.<ref name="Al Jazeera resolution"/> Al Jazeera noted that the resolution was authored by a higher caste student and backed by other students from other racial and religious groups.<ref name="Al Jazeera resolution"/>

In January 2022, the Board of Trustees of the California State University responded, announcing that they added "caste" as a protected category in the university's anti-discrimination policy.<ref>{{citation |first=Nani Sahra |last=Walker |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-20/csu-adds-caste-to-its-anti-discrimination-policy |title=Cal State system adds caste to anti-discrimination policy in groundbreaking decision |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 20, 2022}}</ref> The change was subtle, according to CNN. The word "caste" was added in parentheses after the term "race and ethnicity".<ref name=CNN>Harmeet Kaur, [https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/csu-caste-protections-universities-cec/index.html Colleges and universities across the US are moving to ban caste discrimination], CNN News, 30 January 2022.</ref> A group of faculty in the university had written to the Board of Trustees citing lack of due diligence in instituting the measure. They said that the existing policy of the university, which covers national origin, ethnicity and ancestry, already provided adequate protection, and claimed that the new measure would result in singling out and targeting the Hindu faculty.<ref>{{citation |first=Namita |last=Singh |title=Faculty members of California State University protest inclusion of caste in non-discriminatory policy |newspaper=Independent |date=January 24, 2022 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-state-university-caste-india-b1999328.html}}</ref><ref name="The Hindu opposes" /> But for the advocates and student leaders who campaigned for it for over two years, it was a civil rights victory.<ref name=CNN/>

In December 2022, Brown University became the first Ivy League institution to add caste to its nondiscrimination policy. Brown's vice president for Institutional Equity and Diversity noted that caste was covered under existing nondiscrimination policies, "but we felt it was important to lift this up and explicitly express a position on caste equity.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-12-01/caste | title=Brown University adds caste to nondiscrimination policy | date=December 2022 |publisher=Brown University}}</ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

; Sources * {{citation |last1=Krishnamurthi |first1=Guha |last2=Krishnaswami |first2=Charanya |title=Title VII and Caste Discrimination |journal=Harvard Law Review |volume=134 |year=2021 |pages=456–482 |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/134-Harv.-L.-Rev.-F.-456.pdf}} * {{Citation |last1=Zwick-Maitreyi |first1=M. |last2=Soundararajan |first2=T. |last3=Dar |first3=N. |last4=Bheel |first4=R. F. |last5=Balakrishnan |first5=P. |title=Caste in the United States: A survey of Caste among South Asian Americans |publisher=Equality Labs |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-692-94411-0 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58347d04bebafbb1e66df84c/t/603ae9f4cfad7f515281e9bf/1614473732034/Caste_report_2018.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903051757/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58347d04bebafbb1e66df84c/t/603ae9f4cfad7f515281e9bf/1614473732034/Caste_report_2018.pdf |archive-date=3 September 2021 |ref={{sfnref|Equality Labs, 2018}}}}

==Further reading== * {{cite news |author=Tinku Ray |title=The US isn't safe from the trauma of caste bias |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2019-03-08/us-isn-t-safe-trauma-caste-bias |newspaper=WGBH News |date=March 8, 2019}} * Isabel Wilkerson, ''Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents'', Random House, 2020

Category:Caste system in India Category:Dalit history Category:Discrimination in India Category:Discrimination in the United States [[Category:Maid narratives Category:United States caste system