State bill to ban caste bias progresses

A state bill to bolster California's civil rights protections by banning caste discrimination cleared a major obstacle Wednesday, passing through the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a 9-0 vote after some language changes.

The bill already passed in the state Senate in May with a near-unanimous 34-1 vote, originally adding “caste” as a distinct protected category to the state's anti-discrimination laws. That language received polarizing feedback at a similar Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in April, drawing hundreds of members of the public in one of the largest crowds of the current legislative session.

Supporters say Senate Bill 403 will give people experiencing caste-based discrimination the clarity they need to file investigations and benefit from the state's anti-discrimination laws. They point to the growing South Asian American population in the state of California, and a need for protections in various sectors like the tech industry and housing.

Cheers among supporters largely broke out at the Capitol once news of the decision broke. In a statement, the bill's author, state Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, celebrated the decision.

“This bill is about workers' rights, women's rights, and civil rights,” she said in the statement. “This bill is about ensuring the American Dream is accessible to all those who pursue it.”

The bill , as passed and amended by the committee, wouldn't go as far as to set caste as its own category, but lists it under the “ancestry” category, alongside heritage, parentage, lineal descent or “any inherited social status.”

Wahab previously amended the bill to remove some background information describing the caste system in South Asia; but in an interview prior to the hearing, she said she remains committed to seeing the word caste included in the bill, despite some objections.

The hearing also featured two speakers from parties in support of and in opposition to the bill.

Speakers in support included litigation attorney Tarina Mand, chair of the South Asian Bar Association of North America's racial justice taskforce; and Tanuja Gupta, a law student and former senior manager at Google who reported experiencing retaliation for attempting to shed light on the issues of caste in Google's workplaces.