Fresno, California, has become the second city in the U.S. to ban caste discrimination, after the City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to incorporate two new protected categories into its municipal code.
Discrimination based on caste or indigeneity is now illegal in the city.
In the midst of a nationwide civil rights movement, led mostly by South Asian Americans who come from caste-oppressed backgrounds, local governments, business and institutions have been contending with the caste question. In February, Seattle became the first U.S. city to explicitly ban caste discrimination, and in California, a bill currently on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would do the same statewide.
“I’m proud of our City for once again, raising the bar on civil rights protections,” Fresno City Council Vice President Annalisa Perea said in a press release. “While we acknowledge that discrimination won’t end overnight, our City took bold action by passing this anti-discrimination policy to strengthen civil rights protections against caste discrimination.”
Caste equity leaders are celebrating another step forward in the movement.
“It is an honor and a dream to have brought freedom for so many peoples in Fresno with this historic win,” Amar Daroch, a Fresno resident and president of the local Sikh temple, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, said in a news release. “There are so many of us who are survivors of global caste systems.”
Caste systems, inherited social hierarchies most prominent on the Indian subcontinent, divide society into classes that define people’s lives in many ways. Those born into lower classes say they face violence, a lack of social mobility, and exclusion, both in India and abroad in the diaspora.
The measure was also championed by Indigenous Oaxacans in Fresno, who spoke out about their experiences with discrimination in Mexican communities.
“Our collective responsibility to our community requires us to stand beside those who have bravely illuminated these pressing concerns, impacting marginalized communities across employment, education, and housing,” Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said in the release. “This ordinance represents our unequivocal acknowledgement of the discrimination that exists, and our unwavering commitment to confront it head on.”
Fresno’s measure comes as caste equity leaders embark on the third week of a hunger strike to push Newsom to sign Senate Bill 403, which would add caste to the state’s anti-discrimination policy. On an all-liquid diet, they say they will continue until the bill becomes law, which could be as late as Oct. 14.
“I am fasting as a reminder of how important this bill is to my two daughters,” Nirmal Singh, 42, a lead organizer of the Californians for Caste Equity coalition, said in the release. “I cannot live in this state knowing that caste discrimination can continue unabated. We fast now for all those who have not been able to speak out.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
