Significance of caste discrimination ban in Seattle https://theleaflet.in/significance-of-caste-discrimination-ban-
in-seattle/ RIA CHAKRABARTY·MARCH 6, 2023
If a resident of Seattle feels that they have been passed over for a job or promotion, or that they have not been able to rent an apartment because of their caste, they can now petition the city’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate whether or not their rights have been violated.
This bill expands existing civil rights law in Seattle that originally protected people along racial lines, and eventually along religious, ethnic, gender and sexuality lines against discrimination.
Seattle’s historic bill will reverberate across the world, moving humanity closer to ending caste discrimination.
Comment: It is important to note that inability to rent an apartment is recognised as a form of discrimination!
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about 47 per cent of Hindu Indian Americans identify with a caste identity, and the overwhelming majority of those who do, said they identify as upper-caste, while 16 per cent identify as Other Backward Class and 1 per cent identify as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe. https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667
https://www.equalitylabs.org/castesurvey/#key-findings
Download report on caste survey by equalitylabs.org https://www.equalitylabs.org/s/Caste_report_2018.pdf