California moved closer to becoming the first U.S. state to ban caste discrimination after a bill to outlaw the practise passed the California Assembly late on Monday.

California moved closer to becoming the first U.S. state to ban caste discrimination after a bill to outlaw the practise passed the California Assembly late on Monday.

U.S. discrimination laws ban ancestry discrimination but do not explicitly ban casteism. California’s legislation targets the caste system in South Asian immigrant communities by adding caste to the list of categories protected under the state’s anti-discrimination laws.

The bill was introduced and authored by state Senator Aisha Wahab, an Afghan American Democrat, in March. An earlier version of it passed the state Senate before undergoing revisions.

  • @laylawashere44English
    4•10 months ago

    Because different castes are generally different ethnic groups. Most people can tell Chinese, and Japanese people apart just by looking at them. You can do the same.

    I’m not Indian, I’m Pakistani and while there isn’t a caste system in Pakistan, there is definitely discrimination based on ethnicity in Pakistan.

    And while most people can’t tell Pakistani people from each other in the west, Pakistani people themselves can look at each other and tell if one is Muhajir, or Siraiki or Pathaan or Sindhi.