Defying Discrimination

An historic ordinance brings new attention to caste challenges in the U.S.

By Pratika Yashaswi

In February this year, the Seattle City Council passed a historic law banning caste discrimination in employment, housing, and other areas.

Thanks to the efforts of Council Member Kshama Sawant and the support of prominent anti-caste organizations such as Equality Labs and the Ambedkar International Center (AIC), the ordinance was passed.

This legislation protects South Asian people of oppressed castes, many of whom self-identify as Dalits, allowing them to lodge complaints when they face caste prejudice. It will also prohibit businesses from discriminating based on caste concerning hiring, tenure, promotion, workplace conditions, or wages.

Currently, caste discrimination has been outlawed in India and prohibited in many Ivy League universities. However, public conversation about caste has yet to mature in the West, including in the United States. With this legislation, that’s changing.

Dalit workers face systemic discrimination, including bullying and harassment, exploitation, casteist slurs, demotion, and termination across professions. A survey by Equality Labs found that two out of three Dalits in America have been mistreated at the workplace, and half are afraid to disclose their caste identity.

In recent years, the world, especially the American IT industry, has started paying more attention to caste. The state of California recently sued Cisco for discriminating against an Indian Dalit engineer at Cisco’s Silicon Valley headquarters based on caste. This ordinance i s one victory in the long fight against caste discrimination, and paves the way for passing similar laws across the United States.