Seattle has become the first US city to ban discrimination based on caste after a City Council vote.
Councilwoman Kushma Sawant, who introduced the legislation, said the fight against caste discrimination “is closely related to the fight against all forms of oppression”.
Proponents of the ban say it is needed to prevent caste bias from becoming more common in the United States.
The caste system in India is 3,000 years old and divides Hindu society into strictly hierarchical groups.
The ordinance passed by Seattle on Tuesday follows similar restrictions on caste discrimination that have been introduced on US university campuses in recent years.
“Caste discrimination doesn’t just happen in other countries,” said Ms. Sawant, who is the only Indian-American on the Seattle City Council.
“This is what South Asian Americans and other immigrant workers face in their workplaces, including in the tech sector, in Seattle and cities across the country.”
Ms Sawant, a socialist, has previously spoken of growing up in an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin household in India and witnessing such discrimination.
Some Hindu-American groups have opposed the move, saying the ban is not necessary because US law already prohibits such discrimination.
In an open letter, the Washington, DC-based Hindu American Federation said that while the ordinance’s goals are laudable, it would “unfairly target an entire community for disparate treatment based on their national origin and ancestry.” Is”.
He added that Indian Americans make up less than 2% of Washington State’s population, and argued that there is little evidence of any widespread caste-based discrimination.
Caste discrimination has been banned in India since 1948, however, discrimination continues, especially against Dalits, who were once called “untouchables”.
According to the Migration Policy Institute think tank, the US is the second most popular destination for Indians living abroad.
