Seattle Makes History by Passing Anti-Caste Ordinance

March 8, 2023

Seattle is officially the first U.S. city to pass a law that recognizes and prohibits caste-based discrimination. Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant has been at the forefront of advocating for anti-caste legislation and proposed the ordinance to ban caste-based discrimination, which passed in a majority 6-1 vote, Feb. 21.

The caste system is a hierarchical segregation method that Hindu society was broken into. It has five tiers (castes) that separated Hindus based on their nobility and privilege and dictated which jobs they could work, who they could socialize with and whom they could marry. While caste discrimination was lawfully abolished in India in 1950, caste segregation is still prevalent in social perceptions today.

https://seattlespectator.com/2023/03/08/seattle-makes-history-by-passing-anti-caste-ordinance/