CASTE AND RACE:SHARED STRCUTURE OF INJUSTICE:SHARED ARCS OF ADVOCACY
A Comparative Inquiry into Caste in India and Race in the United States
By Yasha Singh and Nitin Ranjan
Executive Summary
This report examines the intertwined histories and structures of caste-based oppression in India and race-based discrimination in the United States, drawing legal, cultural, and religious parallels and lessons. Both systems are revealed as deeply entrenched hierarchies enforced through law, social customs, and theology – yet each also carries a legacy of resistance and solidarity.
Section I: Legal Analogies and Lessons compares India’s anti-caste legal framework (e.g. the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, constitutional abolitions of “untouchability,” and affirmative measures) with U.S. civil rights laws (e.g. the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and anti-lynching efforts). It highlights how a groundbreaking California lawsuit against Cisco Systems in 2020 extended U.S. employment law to caste discrimination[1] and how cities like Seattle have begun explicitly banning caste bias[2]. This section also notes the historical dialogue between these legal systems and international human rights norms that recognize caste discrimination as akin to racial discrimination[3].