If a type of discrimination only affects 0.1% of the U.S. population, does it still need to be outlawed? This was the question recently tackled by the legislature of California in regard to a type of discrimination called casteism. Casteism primarily affects Hindus, whom the Pew Research Center found to make up 0.7% of the United States population. According to a study conducted by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, over 34% of American-born Hindus identify with a caste, and of that, only about 5% experience caste discrimination.
This discrimination, known as casteism, is something that some Hindu people in the U.S. experience daily, making it hard to find work and housing. Because casteism is not prevalent in the general United States population, laws explicitly banning casteism have not been created. However, there are already laws non-explicitly prohibiting casteism which, if implemented correctly, should be enough to eliminate casteism—ancestry discrimination laws. In October 2023, California’s governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would ban caste discrimination within the state, saying that there are already laws in the United States that prohibit ancestry discrimination. While the existence of ancestry discrimination laws is important, both the federal government and state governments should focus on better enforcement of these laws.
The caste system is a social hierarchy system started in South Asia over 3,000 years ago, and is based on a person’s bloodline. Casteism is discrimination based on a person’s caste, most prevalently against someone of a lower caste. One’s caste is not public information, though last names can indicate which caste someone may belong to. The system was explicitly banned by the Indian government, but it still exists within some parts of the Hindu culture today.
Ancestry discrimination laws prohibit the discrimination of people based on their actual or perceived ancestry, ethnic characteristics, or citizenship, and should therefore include caste. Rather than creating new laws, it’s more important that the ancestry discrimination laws be more thoroughly enforced. There are many instances where these laws were ignored. For example, according to Calmatters, new California immigrants looking for work are often turned away because of their caste. This was the case for Prem Pariyar, who was turned away at a South Asian restaurant for being a member of the lowest caste level, members of which are often referred to with the insensitive term “untouchables”. If these laws were upheld more consistently, then caste discrimination, along with other types of discrimination, would be less likely to happen.
Many colleges throughout the country have added caste protection to their discrimination policies. Two cities, Seattle, Washington and Fresno, California, have created laws to protect against casteism. But why do we need new laws if we already have ancestry discrimination laws? We don’t.
Many Hindu people are opposed to Newsom’s decision to veto the bill, which includes people who have experienced casteism in the United States. While they have every right to be upset about this, there are better ways these anti-discriminatory laws can be enforced by the government. Instead, the government and companies need to do a better job of enforcing ancestry discrimination laws and policies by creating stronger incentives for employers to prioritize anti-discrimination laws, strengthening government enforcement of these laws, and spreading awareness about the discrimination Hindus face.
