Bay Area lawmaker’s bill to outlaw discrimination based on caste clears California Senate

By DEEPA BHARATH | Related Press

The California Senate voted 34-1 Thursday in favor of laws outlawing caste discrimination within the state. If it passes within the state Meeting and is enacted, California may grow to be the primary state within the nation to make caste bias unlawful by including it as a protected class within the state’s anti-discrimination legal guidelines.

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, the primary Muslim and Afghan American elected to the legislature, launched the invoice in March. Caste is a division of individuals associated to start or descent and people on the lowest strata of the caste system generally known as Dalits, have been pushing for authorized protections in California and past. They are saying it's mandatory to guard them from bias in housing, schooling and within the tech sector — the place they maintain key roles.

Thursday’s vote was swift, with solely Sen. Brian Jones voting towards the laws, which has been controversial. On April 25, a whole bunch on either side of the difficulty got here to voice their opinions throughout a Senate Judiciary listening to on the matter. Proponents say caste discrimination is a actuality in California and that clarifying the state’s anti-discrimination legal guidelines will assist protected caste-oppressed communities. Opponents have maintained that the regulation will single out Hindus and folks of Indian descent.

Jones, R-Santee, stated he has heard issues from quite a few constituents and agrees with them that the laws unfairly targets a selected group. He contends that caste bias is already lined below current anti-discrimination legal guidelines.

In April, the California Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismissed its case alleging caste discrimination towards two Cisco engineers, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, whereas nonetheless conserving alive its litigation towards the Silicon Valley tech large.

In February, Seattle turned the primary U.S. metropolis and the primary jurisdiction outdoors South Asia so as to add caste to its anti-discrimination legal guidelines. A number of schools and universities have additionally enacted related insurance policies barring caste discrimination on campuses, together with College of California, Davis.

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Related Press faith protection receives assist via the AP’s collaboration with The Dialog US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely liable for this content material.

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