Caste bias in corporate America

Business Daily

BBC

Business

4.4 • 816 Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There is a growing debate in the US about the caste system - an ancient social ranking system where the community you are born into determines what kind of job you do, who you marry, and much more.

The caste system in India dates back over 3,000 years and divides Hindu society into different social strata. In many South Asian countries, it is outlawed. But members of the South Asian diaspora in the US say this type of caste bias persists, and there is often very little protection at workplaces against it.

For the community, opinions are divided. Seattle in Washington was the first city to ban discrimination based on caste. But the fight continues for activists in California, where a bill that sought to ban discrimination was vetoed in October. Opponents called it a "divisive bill" that "implicitly singles out" South Asians.

In this edition of Business Daily, Devina Gupta speaks to workers who have experienced such discrimination, and explores some of the challenges for lawmakers seeking to ban it.

(Image: A group from Equality Labs at a rally in September 2023, pushing for a law to ban caste discrimination. Credit: Getty Images)

Presented and produced by Devina Gupta

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	From global current affairs to art, science and culture.
0:05.1	The documentary from the BBC World Service tells the world's stories.
0:10.6	Search for the documentary, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:18.8	Hello and namaste. Welcome to Business Daily. On the show today, corporate America's fight against caste discrimination. We're talking about an ancient social ranking system that has the members of the South Asian diaspora divided in the US.
0:36.7	Not all brown people are all equal.
0:39.8	There is so much of hierarchy within South Asians too.
0:44.7	That was one of the reason moving to the U.S.
0:47.0	that we will leave behind this caste prejudices back in India.
0:53.6	But I think unfortunately the United States has not modified or changed the prejudices of
1:00.0	caste dominant people.
1:01.6	People from the community share their experiences about the discrimination they face at
1:06.2	their workplaces because of their caste.
1:08.8	When you're meeting and everything, formally, everything is fine.
1:12.0	These things work subtly behind the curtains, behind the scenes.
1:15.6	Why are you most more concerned about my last name?
1:18.6	Why are you must more concerned about my caste identity?
1:21.8	We all are human being.
1:24.4	This kind of caste discrimination is outlawed in many South Asian countries like India.
1:30.7	And now policymakers in the U.S. are trying to raise awareness about it.
1:35.8	Among them is California Senator Aisha Wahab from the Democratic Party,
1:40.6	who recently sponsored a bill to outlaw caste discrimination in the state.
1:45.6	More and more people were talking to me privately about some forms of discrimination they were
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.