Seattle resolution seeking ban on caste bias sparks debate
Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant speaks during an inauguration ceremony in Seattle on Monday
Seattle: A resolution moved by an upper-caste Hindu official in the Seattle City Council to bring in an ordinance banning caste-based discrimination in the city has generated intense debates among members of the Indian-American community.
The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote on the resolution moved by Council member Kshama Sawant at its meeting late on Tuesday. If voted, Seattle would become the first American city to specifically outlaw caste discrimination.
The resolution proposing an ordinance to add caste to Seattle's anti-discrimination laws has divided the small but influential South Asian community.
Proponents of the move, which is the first of its kind in a US city council, have hailed it as an important step towards promoting social justice and equality.
On the other hand, an equally large number of people have alleged that this is a move to target the larger South Asian Diaspora, particularly Indian Americans.
"We have to be clear, while the cost of discrimination against oppression does not show up in the United States, in every form that it shows up in South Asia, the discrimination is very real out here," said Sawant. Many Indian-Americans fear that codifying caste in public policy will further fuel instances of Hinduphobia in the US.
Over the last three years, ten Hindu temples and five statues, including those of Mahatma Gandhi and Maratha emperor Shivaji, have been vandalised across the US as an intimidation tactic against the Hindu community.
Indian Americans are the second-largest immigrant group in the US. According to data from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), which is conducted by the US Census Bureau, there are 4.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the United States.
The Seattle city ordinance is similar to the resolution that was attempted by Equality Labs in the Santa Clara Human Rights Commission in 2021. The resolution failed after hearing objections from the Indian-American diaspora in the Bay Area.