Exclusive: Meet the Indian-American behind anti-caste discrimination law in Seattle

The city of Seattle, in the US, recently passed a law that bans discrimination based on caste. Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, an Indian-American, was the driving force behind the legislation. Discrimination based on caste is a centuries-old social evil in India. In an exclusive interaction with WION's Manas Joshi, Sawant explained how the issue is fast becoming a concern in the US where there are thousands of Indian Americans.

WION: Is casteism so bad in the US that a legislation was required to specifically tackle it?

Kshama Sawant: What we've observed in the United States is that as number of South Asian immigrants went up, as it reached a certain threshold, the issue of casteism and oppression became more pervasive. If you look at statistical data that was available to us from two different sources, one study was from Equality Lab while the other was from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, both studies had different methodologies but they reached similar conclusions that caste discrimination is quite pervasive in the US.

If you look at organisations where the caste discrimination is happening, it runs a spectrum. You name it, and the corporation is there. Dalit (lower caste) workers from Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco have said that they have experienced caste discrimination.

The type of discrimination ranges from very serious instances where you are actually denied raises or promotions to things like being kept out of meetings or being made a target of derogatory remarks. All of these things are happening.

WION: How do you see caste and race in American context? Are existing laws against racism in US enough to tackle casteism?

Kshama Sawant: I don't think that they are enough. The law we passed in Seattle has not only made it first city in the US to pass such a law, it made Seattle first city in the world outside South Asia to legally ban caste-based discrimination.

Fundamentally, racial discrimination is no different than caste-based discrimination or discrimination based of gender.

WION: Seattle City Council was not unanimous during passage of this law. The result of the voting was 6-1. Who could be against legislation that seeks to promote equality?

Kshama Sawant: I am glad that you asked this question, and in this way. Who are against it? It was a quite clear demarcation as to who was for it and who was against it. One councilmember voted against it. And if you look at her track record of voting, it's not that she voted in alignment with the right wing on just this issue, she is generally conservative and pro-big business on most issues.

WION: Tell us about your life before America. You grew up in Mumbai...

Kshama Sawant: We grew up in working class/ middle class family. We were not well-off but we were also not poor. My earliest memories growing up were filled with anger and outrage about the overall economic and social situation I observed around me. And it was not just a feeling but also an intellectual process for me thinking that surely human society can achieve better than this.

WION: Leaders of South Asian heritage have been getting greater representation in politics of Western countries lately. Is Kshama Sawant a rising star? What next for Kshama Sawant?

Kshama Sawant: I wouldn't think of my personal career as being of any importance. However, your question is important. By December this year, I will have served in Seattle Council for 10 years, a whole decade. We have won four elections, despite the opposition from big business including Amazon and Jeff Bezos themselves. We have shown that this is possible in one city. We need to share these ideas nationally and globally. This year I am not running for a re-election. We are launching a national movement called Workers Strike Back.

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