Current Events > Seattle bans caste discrimination

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://apnews.com/article/seattle-religion-discrimination-077737f6a251db30b6bca3edd4a83844

Wrt Dalit peoples

I must be out of the loop.

Weve heard hundreds of gut-wrenching stories over the last few weeks showing us that caste discrimination is very real in Seattle, she said.

But they don't provide a single one.

Is this one of those things that is a serious issue for Hindus in the US?? Or is this more of a "solidarity" thing? Theres a quote from a dude who says he hasn't felt discriminated against (which is just as much time as they spent on showing how there are people discriminated against in the quote above). I'm not Hindu so I have no damn clue. I'm curious.

Good. We banned backwards discrimination based on sexuality that was attached to Christianity, so other religions need to be treated likewise.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Is this one of those things that is a serious issue for Hindus?

I mean I'm a mayo-ass cracker (though I worked in India several times and know many in the Hindu community) so take my opinion on the matter with a grain of salt, but a lot of the problems regarding caste and class discrimination are still very much a thing.

C.H. Srikrishna, a San Francisco Bay Area-based tech worker, said he is worried about the ramifications this ordinance might have for the South Asian community.
I too want discrimination to end, he said. But we need to first determine that widespread discrimination exists.

I dont get this line of reasoning if the discrimination doesnt exist, wouldnt banning it essentially be no harm no foul?0

Doom_Art posted...

I mean I'm a mayo-ass cracker (though I worked in India several times and know many in the Hindu community) so take my opinion on the matter with a grain of salt, but a lot of the problems regarding caste and class discrimination are still very much a thing.

Even in the US? Like I'm trying to figure out if US Hindus are having problems while living here, or if it's one of those things that is done as a sign of solidarity to hopefully change policies world wide or something.

The article does a bad job of giving details about the underlying issue. That's what I want to read about.

I know the caste system is an actual thing that effects them and is pretty terrible.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

I must be out of the loop.

But they don't provide a single one.

Is this one of those things that is a serious issue for Hindus in the US?? Or is this more of a "solidarity" thing? Theres a quote from a dude who says he hasn't felt discriminated against (which is just as much time as they spent on showing how they wpeople discriminated against in the quote above). I'm not Hindu so I have no damn clue. I'm curious.

Sanjay Patel, a tech company owner from the Seattle area, said he never felt discriminated against in the U.S. as a member of a lower caste and that the ordinance pained him because it reminded him of a caste identity, which he thought had become obsolete.

Yeah, this guy seems like a wealthy capitalist... So idk

I guess it is weird that there is this law that ostensibly only applies to Hindu people, there are stuff like Headwear rulings that only effect certain cultures as well.

They're a socialist so something like this is to be expected

https://web.archive.org/web/20221002125849/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/india-america-caste/620583/

A 2016 study by Equality Labs, an American civil-rights organization focused on caste, found that 41 percent of South-Asian Americans who identify as lower-caste reported facing caste discrimination in U.S. schools and universities, compared with 3 percent of upper-caste respondents. The survey indicated that 67 percent of lower-caste respondents said they had suffered caste discrimination in the workplace, versus 1 percent of upper-caste individuals. (The survey of more than 1,500 people focused on Hindus. Though upper castes hold more power, caste discrimination is more complex than simply being meted out by upper castes against lower castes, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Equality Labss executive director, told me. In fact, she said, it is all castes against all castes.)

Glad they aren't going the dwarf route

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Even in the US? Like I'm trying to figure out if US Hindus are having problems while living here, or if it's one of those things that is done as a sign of solidarity to hopefully change policies world wide or something.

I mean this may not be the most politically correct thing to say, but even after people move to North America, a lot of cultural issues that are obstensibly not friendly to western values carry on over. Not exclusive to Hindus of course, but yeah.

I've definitely heard stories of from Hindu/East Indian people in lower castes getting dumped on in their communities in Canada/the US.

so, many of the people opposing racism are actually upset that caste-ism is getting looked at too. Hypocrisy?

I still kind of dont understand what a caste system is or what caste discrimination really means

A caste is basically you getting put into a social category based entirely on your birth. Peasants vs Nobles is probably the biggest.

This has got to be for Hindu owned businesses not hiring due to castes, right?

lifespeedrunner posted...

I still kind of dont understand what a caste system is or what caste discrimination really means

A caste system is usually religious social organization for the purpose of distributing labour and privileges and duties. It's like a class system that you are born into and can't change, so if you are low class it's for life.

Kind of like Brave New World too.

Irony posted...

A caste is basically you getting put into a social category based entirely on your birth. Peasants vs Nobles is probably the biggest.

in india people thought different people came from different parts of one of their deities (I forgot which one), and each "body part" had a job.

I can't remember the examples exactly, but if you were a teacher or intellectual you came from the head and you were high, if you came from the arms you were a warrior and were high... etc. If you came from the thighs you were "untouchable" and lowly, IIRC it was called Dalit.

I think that's what the gist is