Last month state senator Aisha Wahab introduced SB 403, a historic bill that, if enacted, would make California the first state to ban caste-based discrimination in the US.
Practiced for centuries in the Indian subcontinent, caste is an exclusionary system within the Hindu religion that divides people and determines their access to resources. Unlike class, caste is an ascribed status; there’s no mobility to move upwards. Generally, Brahmin communities are in the highest social order, whereas the Dalit community is at the bottom.
Because of the fast-growing South Asian diaspora, caste has also manifested as a burning issue in the US. A 2018 survey conducted by Equity Labs – a leading US-based Dalit organization – found that two out of three workers reported facing caste prejudices at their workplace in the US. Several instances of discrimination against Dalit students and employees in elite universities and tech companies like Google with large South Asian populations have exposed the problem.
In February, Seattle became the first city in the US and the first jurisdiction outside South Asia to ban caste-based discrimination. And in 2020, Brandeis University became the first university in the US to ban caste-based discrimination, followed by Harvard University, California State University, the University of California, Davis, and Brown University.
Wahab, who represents the 10th district of California, which is home to a diverse Asian population, said including caste in the protected category and expanding the understanding of discrimination is essential given how diverse the country is becoming.
“It’s not accurate to say that caste-based prejudices don’t exist in the United States,” Wahab said. “Caste is a taboo topic. Although I am not ethnically of the same community, still people have come and told me that ‘What you are doing, nobody in our community has the courage to do so.’”
The first Afghan American and Muslim elected to the California state senate, Wahab has received support as well as hostility from community members after introducing the bill. Some people even organized protests against this bill.
The Guardian interviewed Wahab about when she became aware of caste biases and what inspired her to write this legislation.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
When did you become aware of the caste biases that exist in South Asian communities?
I learned about the caste system through public education. Community members in my district have told me how their parents married different people of different castes and their families weren’t accepting. Thus, they moved to the United States but were still discriminated against in the community surroundings.
The truth is caste-based discrimination happens far more than people think and realize, especially considering that the caste system is more than 3,000 years old and is very much ingrained in so many people. I am hearing more about the biases as more people are talking about them. Some people have told me that they would have separate bathrooms at restaurants for people working versus the people owning the restaurants. Because of the caste system people are treated very differently and they are restricted by their families on whom they can marry. These are all the issues that are not talked about in the mainstream media and public.
What inspired you to write and introduce this bill to ban caste-based discrimination?
My district is largely diverse and hugely populated in the state of California. And a lot of issues regarding caste stemmed in my district. For example the Cisco situation, California State [University] East Bay situation and several other issues. Since more and more people would talk to me about it and explain some of the problems they were having, I just wanted to address this issue through this bill to protect people.
Why do you think caste is an American issue now?
America is getting more diverse. We are seeing more and more types of discrimination based on things that the United States has historically not had the depth to deal with. To say caste is not an American issue is incorrect. The more diverse the country becomes, the more we are going to see a surge of these kinds of prejudices. And we have already started seeing that. Just take the example of the Google case and several other cases happening in the Bay Area as well as across the country. Why did Seattle feel the need to ban caste-based discrimination? Why is Toronto also doing the same? Why is there such a big movement to tackle this issue? Because it’s happening. So we as policymakers want to be proactive and make sure that all people are protected regardless of where they come from or their background or anything like that.
You represent a district from Silicon Valley that is home to a growing South Asian population in the US. How long has caste been talked about as a political issue in this community?
There are communities that have no idea what a caste system is. And there are other communities that are bringing this up as to why they are rejected from different opportunities whether it’s housing or jobs. I think caste is in discussion but it is a little taboo to talk about. In the United States most people try to pretend that there’s no caste prejudice here and everyone is living their best lives. But the truth is that people can only live their best lives when they are protected under United States law.
What kind of support have you received from the South Asian communities regarding this bill?
Every day I receive hundreds of calls and emails about this bill. People from different ethnic communities and different religious backgrounds have reached out to me and extended their support. I want to highlight that I personally feel great that people are finding the courage to speak out against what they have always believed was wrong but were too afraid to talk about. If this bill gives even a handful of people some freedom to live their own life, I will be really happy.
You have also received violent threats from groups who are against this bill. What do you have to say about this?
We have been hearing the arguments against the bill and some people are conflating religion with the caste movement, which is wrong. This bill is trying to primarily protect people against discrimination. Anybody who is opposed to this bill has some other motive because this bill is to help people. It’s not to cause harm and it will not.
Also, it is interesting to me that the groups that tend to speak against this bill, the counterparts of the same religion, same ethnicity, same caste level, actually do support this bill. There are people on both sides of this argument.
You have claimed that this bill is a civil rights bill, a workers’ bill, a women’s rights bill and a human rights bill. Can you further elaborate on this?
This bill literally allows the people to live their life without the judgment of what caste, family or ancestry they belong to. It will add to the already protected categories of religion, ethnicity and gender. This bill is primarily to expand our law, and to protect our more and more diverse community members.
