In another significant moment for the movement against caste discrimination in the United States, a Bill to make caste discrimination illegal was passed by the California State Assembly on Monday, August 28, with 50 votes in its favour and only three against it. It was earlier passed by the state’s Senate in May this year. With its passage in the state Assembly, California will become the first US state to ban caste discrimination. The legislation will add caste as a protected category under ‘ancestry’ in California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, Education, and Housing codes.
I’m also surprised it’s Indian-Americans talking about this and not Republicans. There’s been a caste system in the US since its inception based on race and income.
Anyone who is under the impression that Indian-Americans are progressive & hate discrimination needs to know that Indian-Americans carry within them the oppressive caste system that they’ve been trained into by their families & communities since birth.
Even those born outside India are trained into & practice caste oppression. Since developed countries look down on discrimination, so caste atrocities are carried out behind closed doors and in devious ways. Indian newcomers to college/ work place are asked their full name, because the last name/ surname is a caste marker. They’re invited to a pool party to check whether they wear the Brahmin caste thread, or a friendly hand is placed on their left shoulder to check whether they’re wearing the Brahmin caste thread under their clothes. Once info on their caste is gathered, they’ll either be welcomed as one of ‘ours’ or severely discriminated against by the oppressor upper castes a discreetly as possible.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, a victim of caste oppression, India’s first Law Minister, and the architect of India’s Constitution had said this “If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem”
You’re acting like they’re two separate groups, I doubt these far right religious extremists are democrats
You’ll be suprised, Many are good at wearing a progressive mask in public and behaving otherwise in private.
I am Indian and know people who have moved to the US. Irrespective of which party they supported in India, most Indian-Americans support the Democrats in the US. This is because of two reasons:-
The Indian political landscape is to the left of the US landscape. So right-wing parties in India are often similar, policy-wise, to centrist Democrats or moderate Republicans.
Even rich, upper-caste Indians face racial discrimination in the US.
Lol, suuuuure
???
In the 2020 Carnegie endowment survey, ndian-Americans preferred Biden to Trump 72% to 22%. The three biggest issues for them were economics, healthcare and racism.
From the people whom I know, the biggest concerns were the lack of free healthcare and free / cheap higher education, and racism. Nowadays gun violence and restrictions on abortions are also factors they consider.
Oppressor uppercaste Indians want democratic values, secularism, and affirmative action in countries where they are a minority so that they can benefit from those policies. Where they’hold the reigns of power, they want casteism, religious extremism, and patriarchy.
@givesomefucks
Exactly. In each situation, they are supporting the party that would benefit them.
Indians fleeing Modi and then voting Biden over trump in America doesn’t mean India is more leftwing than America…
Ah, so that’s the issue. What I meant is that in India, things like food, healthcare, higher education, electricity and internet are free or heavily subsidised. There is also a general expectation that the government should regulate prices of essentials, and even our rightwing parties at least pay lip service to the constitutional principles of socialism and secularism.
So when Indians move to the US, they get much better salaries, but suffer from racism and miss things like cheap healthcare and free uni. So they would support politicians who promise to fix these things, which are usually the Democrats.
Now it makes sense…
You’re comparing how rich high caste people are treated in India compared to America. And it seems like the only things you know about India are what they tell you, or the ones still in India claim it’s like.
I’m talking about the low caste Indians coming here to get away from the racism they experience over there and the fact that their children are starving and the Indian government doesn’t give a single fuck about them.
I am saying that rich upper caste Indians in the US would vote for the Democrats (because the Democrats promise to solve the issues they face there) while continuing to support rightwing parties back home (to maintain their privileged status). Obviously lower-caste Indian-Americans would also support the Democrats; that goes without saying.
I am an Indian living in India, who has Indian-American friends and relatives. I don’t remember any of them supporting Trump; even those who supported the BJP in India supported Sanders or Biden in the US.