FIGHT AGAINST CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN USA

MEMO SUBMITTED TO FORMALLY RECOGNIZE TITLE VII

The International Commission for Dalit Rights, the National Coalition against Caste Discrimination and civil rights groups, submitted a Policy Memo urging the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (https://www.eeoc.gov/) and Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (https://www.justice.gov/crt/) to formally recognize that Title VII prohibits caste discrimination as it is a form of ancestry or national origin and racial discrimination.
The National Coalition also requested the Civil Rights Division of the Department Justice to provide applicable guidance to other federal agencies in order to enforce Title VII across the country. View Slides
View Memo (Submitted 12/7/21)

In the recent years, a surge in the South Asian American population has led to a surge in incidents of caste discrimination.
Harassment at work - This continues to be a significant site of caste discrimination, harassment, and exclusion.
- A recent report has revealed that there are more than 250 complaints of caste discrimination from employees in major multinational companies in the United States.
- In another study, 67% of Dalit respondents reported experiencing some form of caste discrimination at their workplace such as - verbal and physical assault, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, and caste slurs.
Isabel Wilkerson in her book - 'Caste - The Origins of our Discontent' argues that caste is a substitute for the discussion on race. She says - 'Caste is the bones, race the skin. Race is what we can see.... Caste is the powerful infrastructure that holds each group in its place'.
- The most famous example of adopting the vocabulary of caste to describe discrimination in America is that of Martin Luther King famously saying - "Yes, I am an untouchable, and every Negro in the United States of America is an untouchable." Therefore, we need to continue our fight to have US laws recognize ‘Caste-based Racial Injustice and discrimination’ as a violation of the civil and constitutional rights.

D.B. Sagar, president and founder of the ICDR, said “The American citizen should not have to fear caste discrimination at any level. However, American Dalits fear that their human dignity might be questioned or dehumanized just because of their ancestry or caste.”
He provided powerful testimony saying that despite being educated, a professional and a civil rights advocate, I still hesitate to share my surname within Asian American communities. I know that other American Dalits suffer much more: they are losing jobs and fair promotion opportunities. Caste discrimination restricts their liberty and negatively impacts their prosperity.
Mr. Sagar said, “Unfortunately, I have witnessed hundreds of American Dalits face caste discrimination at all levels, in schools, at the workplace, in housing, and in public places. Because of what I saw happening to my fellow American Dalits, ICDR started advocating and litigating against caste discrimination in the United States.”

In 2017, ICDR filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights against caste discrimination and harassment at the workplace. Subsequently, on behalf of the victim, ICDR appealed to EEOC New York field office to reinvestigate the case in 2018.
Most recently California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed lawsuit against a leading tech company, Cisco Systems Inc. The lawsuit which was brought because of caste- based discrimination states that Cisco ‘engaged in unlawful employment practices on the basis of religion, ancestry, national origin/ethnicity and race/color’.
HCL America, another tech giant in the U.S., is facing a similar lawsuit from an employee who alleges he was fired because of his caste.
The mainstream media including the Washington Post, New York Times and Reuters have started exposing systematic caste discrimination and injustice at workplaces, educational institutions, and public places in the USA.

Acknowledgement that caste discrimination exists in the US today is just a first step.
ICDR, along with National Coalition, is committed to walk every step of the long road to achieving this goal.
The ICDR International relies on a loyal community of supporters, like you, to sustain our work and help fulfill our mission.
We need your support now more than ever! So, please join us and chip in $10 a month or make $200, a one-time donation through https://www.icdrintl.org/donation/, support our policy advocacy and litigation program against Caste discrimination in the USA.
Your fund will help to conduct research, organize experts’ consultation, public hearings, advocacy campaign and laying out a body of evidence to prove existence of caste-based racial injustice and discrimination in the US today.
We urge you to sign up https://icdrintl.org/fightdiscrimination/ and join the campaign to fight Caste-based Racial Injustice and Discrimination.