Caste in the United States

A Law in Common: India and the United States

California sued Cisco alleging that two employees who migrated from India discriminated against another employee on the basis of caste. While some members of the South Asian-American community claim caste should be a protected category in the United States others claim that doing adding it as a protected category stigmatizes all Hindus. Another way in which caste has become part of the national conversation is as way to understand the oppression of Black Americans. In this episode, we will explore the roots of caste prejudice and discrimination in India and discuss the robust protections exist in the Indian constitution and other law for Dalits. Should the same laws that prohibit caste-based discrimination in India also be adopted in the United States? Is caste an appropriate metaphor for the discrimination faced by Black Americans? These are among the questions Sital Kalantry, a professor at Seattle University School of Law, Aziz Rana, Cornell Law School professor, Anurag Bhaskar a professor at Jindal Global Law School will tackle in this episode. If you are interested in exploring this topic further, click here for some recommended readings.