In a utopia, trivial matters like creed, race, or class wouldn’t exist. However, that’s not the world we live in. We’d also like to think that by living in a place like America, where migrants come in search of a better life, we’re better off. The sad reality, though, is that while it’s certainly not uncommon for people to bring traditional values to their new world, some of those values can be questionable. And when they impact the well-being of fellow countrymen and women, those questionable values should be addressed.
The Hindu-American Summit for Political Engagement, which was held in D.C. last month, is an example of this situation. Though organizers said it was meant to raise awareness against growing anti-Hindu sentiment, protestors believe it only seemed to give a platform to traditional, albeit outdated, values like Hindu nationalism and caste discrimination.
The latter term has recently appeared in many headlines, especially in places like Seattle and California, where measures are being introduced to ban it. Seattle has already amended one of its laws to make caste discrimination illegal in the workplace. And a recent measure to add caste to state anti-discrimination laws—the first in the nation—passed in the California Senate and survived the Assembly judiciary committee, according to Cal Matters.
For those unfamiliar with the caste system, it’s defined by the Pew Resaearch Center as “a social hierarchy passed down through families.” To someone like me, described by other South Asians as an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi, umbrella term), the word “social hierarchy” was enough to make me dismiss the idea as a whole. My surname, which comes from the so-called “high caste,” probably makes it easier for me to do so.
For Americans, the concept of the caste system must seem strange, considering how the U.S. is a country built on the separation of church and state. And yet, there’s a growing divide in the debate on whether caste discrimination exists in the United States. Some individuals contacted for this report even refused to go on public record to share their thoughts on the matter.
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An in-depth article by Vidya Krishnan in The Atlantic showed one side of the debate, noting how the ancient ideals of the caste system are carried out in the contemporary world where “[o]n a granular level, upper-caste Hindus do not share utensils or drinking water with those of lower castes, and lighter skin tones are preferred to darker ones. On a systemic level, society self-segregates, with upper castes often congregating in the same neighborhoods; the achievements of upper-caste Hindus come at least partially at the expense of lower-caste communities.”
And yet, some folks like Razib Khan of Unherd have gone so far as to call the caste discrimination debate a ploy by the mainstream media. While he claims that he does not seek to downplay the seriousness of caste discrimination, he does argue that the small number of instances experienced by Dalit (untouchable) caste members aren’t necessarily universal.
“Does this mean that Dalit Americans experience no discrimination or prejudice? Of course not,” Khan explains. “But there is a huge difference between India and the US in the pervasiveness of caste-based discrimination.”
Shouldn’t the fact that one person is experiencing caste discrimination be enough for an entire community to be involved? Khan’s argument is equivalent to saying poverty doesn’t exist if you’ve never grown up on welfare, or famine is not a crisis if you don’t know anyone around you who has gone to bed hungry.
Statistics mean nothing to individuals who are on the other, less fortunate end of those issues, and many people seem to be suffering under the same persecution they tried to escape by coming to America.
“Caste may have traveled from India and penetrated American workplaces, colleges, and communities, like tea from a tea bag, somehow allowing a millennia-old system of discrimination to remain intact in Massachusetts as much as it has in Maharashtra,” Krishnan explains. “Perhaps America can begin to reverse that, and thereby set the tone for a progressive conversation about caste—both in the U.S. and in India.”
On the other hand, folks like Khan are more than equipped to counter these arguments. In response, he would say, “America undoubtedly has many social ills relating to class and ethnicity, but this isn’t because India is importing its own problems to the US. The vast majority of Indians come to the US for a simple reason: to get rich, not to maintain caste hierarchy.”
What does this mean, then, for the growing relationship America appears to be having with India? Both countries stand to benefit from maintaining a positive relationship, as summed up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit with President Joe Biden: “America is India’s biggest trade partner.” It certainly seems feasible that the U.S. would thus look the other way when it comes to human rights concerns.
In fact, when President Biden was asked by Sabrina Siddiqui with the Wall Street Journal about accusations from constituents that his administration is “overlooking the targeting of religious minorities and crackdown on dissent in Prime Minister Modi’s country,” the president seemed to give a typical political response by denying and changing the subject.
“One of the fundamental reasons that I believe the U.S.-China relationship is not in the space it is with the U.S.- Indian relationship is that there’s an overwhelming respect for each other because we’re both democracies,” Biden said. “And it’s a common democratic candida- — character of both our countries that — and our people — our diversity; our culture; our open, tolerant, robust debate.”
“And I believe that we believe in the dignity of every citizen,” he continued. “And it is in America’s DNA and, I believe, in India’s DNA that the whole world — the whole world has a stake in our success, both of us, in maintaining our democracies. It makes us appealing partners and enables us to expand democratic institutions across — around the world. And I believe this, and I still believe this.”
Even Modi managed to dodge the question with wording similar to Biden’s, saying, “There’s absolutely no space for discrimination.”
“When you talk of democracy, if there are no human values and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it’s not a democracy,” he continued. “And that is why, when you say ‘democracy’ and you accept democracy and when we live democracy, then there is absolutely no space for discrimination. And that is why India believes in moving ahead with everybody with trust and with everybody’s efforts.”
Why, then, was it so difficult for comedian Hasan Minhaj to discuss Indian politics on his now-canceled Netflix show Patriot Act? Even during that episode, he admits being in a tricky situation as an Indian and Muslim talking about India’s politics, quipping, “It’s very weird to be talking about something that people love and then also be something that people do not like. It’s like if one half of you was Oreo cookie, and then the other half of you was Muslim.”
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time that the U.S. has overlooked something for its self-interest. However, the Hindu-American Summit seemed to highlight, at least for some, how traditional ideals have made their way to this country, even when they tried to get away from them. Whether we like to admit it or not, folks like Krishnan have been impacted (directly or indirectly) by caste discrimination in some form.
“The reality is that Indian immigrants in the U.S. and Indian Americans are an oppressed minority group, as well as a community with immense power—both over other immigrant groups, as a result of their wealth, and over fellow Indians,” Krishnan writes. “It hurts me to see ignorance and xenophobia directed at members of my community in the U.S., but it maddens me when those same people blindly pay those forward to caste-oppressed minorities in India and elsewhere.”
And while caste discrimination may not be as “serious” an issue for folks like Khan, it is “serious” enough to get lawmakers from California and Washington involved. Ankit Khadgi of The Guardian explained how in California, “several instances of discrimination against Dalit students and employees in elite universities and tech companies like Google with large South Asian populations have exposed the problem.”
Any child of immigrants can understand the experience of traditional values getting in the way of how we live our lives. It’s why people like me had to hide our identities for years or pretend things like “mental health” didn’t exist because we were so worried about “what other people might say.”
Even as I write this article, I’m sure there will be some hate mail coming my way because I’m an American Muslim who’s half-Pakistani with a Hindu surname talking about something I “don’t know anything about.” To them, I’d say their anger is misguided—if they’ve even managed to get past the headline. They, like Khan, have already made up their mind that caste discrimination is nonexistent. To them, people like me who are trying to shed light on it are only exacerbating the “fake” war.
Well, we’re talking about it now. Why isn’t it worth exploring, then?
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