What is Caste?

Caste systems, which exist globally, create social hierarchies based on inherited status. Caste discrimination occurs across industries, including technology, education, construction, restaurants, domestic work, medicine, and more. Those from caste-oppressed backgrounds face bullying, harassment, bias, wage theft, sexual harassment, housing discrimination, and hate crimes. While caste is strongly associated with South Asia, similar systems exist in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Some of the different caste-oppressed communities include. the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, and the Ragyabpa of Tibet, as well as the Romani people and Cagot in Europe,Midgaan, Tumal and Yibir clans of Somalia, the Al-Akhdam in Yemen, and converted Dalit Christians in Pakistan

This why the UN Convention on Racism and Discrimination recognizes caste as a form of racial discrimination and a globally recognized protected characteristic. The International Dalit Solidarity Forum has great guide which has a comprehensive compilation of how caste discrimination and similar forms of discrimination based on work and descent have been addressed by the UNtreaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review, and the Special Procedures.

Dalits under Caste apartheid are forced into segregated schools, villages, places of worship, and subject to violent oppression. Often they are denied access to public amenities including water and roads. This entire system is enforced by violence and maintained by one of the oldest, most persistent cultures of impunity throughout South Asia, most notably in India, where despite the contemporary illegality of the system, it has persisted and thrived for 2,500 years.

Wherever South Asians Go They Take Caste with Them

Caste is not limited to the Subcontinent, caste has been found where ever South Asian migrants go. In the United States many caste-oppressed migrant communities who come from caste and religious backgrounds impacted by caste discrimination are finding that caste has replicated itself in in South Asian community, religious, and business institutions. This has led many shocking experiences of caste discrimination in the united states that includes physical assault, verbal slurs, and discrimination in schools, businesses, and work places.

Our survey provides some of the first quantitative and qualitative data on this problem and we hope will open crucial conversations to protect the rights and dignity of caste-oppressed migrants. 

How Does Caste compare with class, gender, and race?

Caste like race is a social category created in order to exploit a particular group of people. While it shares characteristics that are analogous to class and racial systems of oppression it is quite distinct because of its religious origins and the connections it makes between purity, profession, and skin color. As a result when trying to understand how caste may impact one's experience of classism or even colourism, we recommend the application of intersectionality as a way to understand how caste, class, gender, and race can be overlapping, interconnected but still distinct systems of oppression. 

For example, a Dalit could become wealthy and still be limited in social circles because of who they are , however they perceived through the specific lens and rituals of their Caste location. For example a rich Dalit may still not be welcome to marry an upper-Caste partner. They will still be barred from chanting religious versus, they cannot become priests, and may still be treated poorly despite their ability to break class barriers. 

People of different Castes are not necessarily racially variant and Caste differences persist even if you move to a different class. For example, a "low" Caste person could become wealthy, however they will still be treated with and perceived through the specific lens and rituals of their Caste location. For a deeper understanding of Caste as a social structure, look under the further reading section.

Caste is a Racial and Immigrant Justice Issue

Caste-oppressed South Asians experience some of the highest rates of discrimination of all Asian Americans in the country.  A 2018 survey by Dalit civil rights organization Equality Labs found that 1 in 4 Dalit Americans experienced verbal or physical assault because of their caste, and 1 in 3 Dalit students reported experiencing discrimination during the course of their education. Even more alarming was that 2 out 3 Dalits reported experiencing caste discrimination in their workplaces. Equality Labs’ findings on caste discrimination in the U.S. are corroborated by publications from several reputable sources, including NPR, CNN, Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, Time, Vice, BBC, Salon, and more.  Recent lawsuits like the Cisco Case and the BAPS temple case speak to the growing problem of caste in North America.

Caste-oppressed workers also often fear these issues because of the lack of competency in HR regarding racial issues and caste issues—so many complaints go unrecorded because of these fears. Lack of caste and race equity competency serves as a compounded barrier for caste-oppressed workers seeking remedy for discrimination. Additionally, many caste-oppressed workers have H-1 B visas and are worried that if they raise issues, they may not only lose their job, but also their status. We must ensure safe pathways for caste-oppressed workers to have their grievances met. SB 403 not only provides a mandate for these issues to be addressed but also encourages HR professionals to adopt an intersectional approach to understanding how race-based and caste-based discrimination impact caste-oppressed Americans.

Caste is a Workers' Rights Issue

There is a well-documented history spanning over 20 years of caste discrimination in labor and employment in California. Caste-oppressed Californians  have complained about hostile workplaces, wage theft, trafficking, sexual harassment, unequal pay, and general exploitation. In terms of caste in workplaces, all major industries have been affected—including agriculture, restaurants, finance, communications, building trades, manufacturing, legal and medical fields, and tech. 

The issue of caste is a workplace safety issue, and legal remedies are necessary given the grave caste discrimination workers across many industries face. Consider the Laki Bali Reddy case in California, where a slumlord and restaurateur trafficked 300 workers and forced over 20 young Dalit girls to work as sex slaves. More recently, the State of California has sued Cisco for contributing to a casteist hostile workplace after the complainant reported harassment, bullying, disparate pay, and termination. In another case, hundreds of workers alleged that the BAPS temple society trafficked workers from India to build over five temples in the U.S., including one in Los Angeles. In the wake of these cases, Dalit workers in countless industries have spoken out. 

Caste is Tech Issue

Perhaps no industry has shown the most complaints related to caste than the tech industry with more than 250 workers complaining about several companies. In articles in Wired,  NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, Slate, and New Yorker there have been numerous reports of caste-oppressed tech workers seeking remedies for system caste discrimination in the industry. Tech workers have complained about open usage of caste slurs, biased hiring, and internal referral practices, disparate salaries, attempt to “out” caste identities, biased evaluations, unfair peer reviews, sexual harassment, demotion, and termination. Many tech companies often do not implement their policies when caste-oppressed workers complain, even saying as in the case of Cisco that caste is not a protected characteristic.  This is why it is important to pass SB403, we need all workers in all industries in all workplaces to have their civil and labor rights respected. When such an important sector of the workforce is facing discrimination we must view this as a compromise of all workplaces and we must act quickly to address these issues. 

Caste is a Gender Rights Issue

Caste-oppressed women face the intersecting issues of caste and gender discrimination. Dalit women in several industries have complained of caste and gendered bias as well as sexual harassment. Take for example this workers statement released to the Washington Post by 30 Dalit women engineers working in Silicon Valley who wrote that “working with Indian managers is a living hell. Their gender and caste politics leave a lot to be desired. Dominant caste men make jokes about Dalit reservation, as well as inappropriate jokes about Dalit and Muslim women… It is dominant caste locker room culture at its worst, and these men refuse to see or regard anybody else as their peers. They often leave women engineers out of social meetings and underestimate our capabilities.” 

Caste and gender also play a role in interpersonal violence, where partner organizations like API Chaya and Equality Labs have witnessed caste operate as a form of coercive control in many inter-caste domestic violence cases. This includes the use of caste slurs against victims or attempts to manipulate them to stay in unsafe relationships because of threats being made transnationally to their family back home through caste power networks. Honor killings have also occurred in the name of caste: for example, a Chicago-area man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, grandson, and son-in-law, because he was unhappy that his daughter had married someone who was caste oppressed

Caste is a Queer, Trans, and Non-Binary Rights  Issue

Caste-oppressed queer people struggle with being doubly targeted on the basis of caste and because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Dalit queer, trans, and non-binary students have faced extensive discrimination inside and outside of the LGBTQ+ community and struggle with self-esteem due to violence. Many remain closeted at work to avoid facing more casteist and anti-queer attacks. In one incident, Dalit non-binary activist M. Bhangar was outed at their work and faced a workplace investigation after dominant caste bigots contacted their employer to report them for participating in caste equity organizing. They faced two harrowing months of investigations and the humiliation of being outed both as non-binary and as a Dalit; eventually, they left their job. At a time when queer rights are under attack around the country, we must protect the rights of Dalit queer people as well. 

Making Caste a Protected Characteristic Only Impacts Those That Discriminate

Opponents to SB 403  who raise issues of racial profiling or suggest that South Asians will lose jobs if caste is added are fearmongering and using baseless arguments that are in complete contradiction to established legal opinion. Their false and intentionally obfuscating claims must be dispelled: Adding caste as a protected characteristic is completely lawful. It will not target any one community.  Suggesting that South Asians would lose jobs if caste is made a protected characteristic is akin to suggesting that gender would inhibit employers from hiring women, or adding race would inhibit employers from hiring people of color. This is not how the law works. There is no imposition of foreign law, no universal presumption of treatment of South Asian people. Like all discrimination cases, outcomes will turn on the facts and the established burdens of production and proof in meeting the four basic elements of discrimination claims. 

Let’s be clear: if SB403 passes the only people it will  impact will be those who discriminate.  Every day, egregious caste discrimination is occurring in California institutions due in part to the fact that caste equity protections are not explicit in California code.