HomeAmericasPoliticsWith Overwhelming Support, California Senate Passes Contentious Caste Bill

With Overwhelming Support, California Senate Passes Contentious Caste Bill

With-Overwhelming-Support-California-Senate-Passes-Contentious-Caste-Bill India West

With Overwhelming Support, California Senate Passes Contentious Caste Bill

SACRAMENTO, CA (IANS) – The California Senate passed by 34-1 vote a bill that would make discrimination based on caste illegal in the state.

California would become the first state to protect castes if the state Assembly passes the bill and Governor Gavin Newsom signs it into law.

Introduced by Senator Aisha Wahab in March, SB 403 adds caste as a protected category to an existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that all people in the state of California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments.

The development comes just weeks after the California Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed SB 403 in April.

It also follows the Seattle City Council’s historic legislation banning caste discrimination earlier this year. The resolution moved by Indian American Kshama Sawant was approved by the Seattle City Council by six to one vote.

Wahab, the first Afghan American, and Muslim elected to the California state senate, represents the 10th District — home to a diverse Asian population.

While introducing the Bill, she had said that caste-based prejudices exist in the US, and expanding the understanding of discrimination is necessary given the growing diversity in the country.

In California, caste discrimination occurs across industries, including technology, education, construction, restaurants, domestic work, and medicine, according to civil rights organization Equality Labs, one of the proponents of the bill.

“On behalf of all Dalit Californians and caste-oppressed people around the world, we are ecstatic that the California Senate has passed SB403 off the Senate floor,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Dalit activist, and the founder of the caste equity organization Equality Labs, wrote in a tweet.

“This is a win rooted in years of Dalit feminist organizing, and we are just getting started in making the state safe for our entire caste-oppressed community. We know that we have a long journey ahead of us with this bill, but we have made history with this vote and are proud to look forward to working with the California Assembly on this historic bill!” Soundararajan

A lot of Hindu groups in the US have expressed strong opposition to SB 403, which would specifically add “caste” to California’s non-discrimination policy.

Many of them fear that codifying caste in public policy will further fuel instances of Hinduphobia in the US.

“SB 403 unfairly maligns, targets and racial profiles select communities on the basis of their national origin, ethnicity, and ancestry for disparate treatment, thereby violating the very laws it seeks to amend, the Unruh Civil Rights Act. It further violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the US and California State Constitutions,” The Hindu American Foundation had said in a statement.

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  • Perfect. I am now protected as a janitor against a banker!

    So the next time my manager tells me “I am just a peon”. I have a multi-million dollar lawsuit to file.

    Stupid Californians!

    They think caste is Brahmin and Dalit. Those are Varna. Enjoy folks until the first lawsuit is filed.

    May 12, 2023
  • Hindus especially the Brahmins should have supported the initiative.

    Now you can ask for equal wages for a janitor, a banker and an engineer.

    LOL!

    May 12, 2023
  • It is sad day. Equality Lab won and common man lost.

    May 12, 2023
  • Wahab is anti Hindu and anti India. What would you expect from a troublemaker?

    May 13, 2023
  • Not sure what the issue is. Why are some people opposing this bill? Lower caste individuals (Dalits) have been discriminated against for millennia by so called upper castes. This practice is imported to the West as well. Banning this practice should be welcomed.

    May 14, 2023

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