What is caste? What is caste discrimination? In her book “Caste,” Isabel Wilkerson powerfully writes that looking at caste is like holding society’s X-ray up to the light. But what happens when you don’t know what to look for? The challenge with caste discrimination is that, sometimes, even those who perpetuate it can’t explain what it is or how it works. As is becoming increasingly clear through California’s recent litigation against Cisco Systems for its role in the perpetuation of caste-based discrimination, caste perpetuates itself nonetheless, in India and at home in the United States--whether we know what it is or not. The question that remains is how do attorneys respond to the challenge of caste, how do institutions account for and protect against caste discrimination, and how (if at all) does US law learn to recognize, prohibit and punish caste discrimination.
May 17, 2021 ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
Invisible Apartheid: What You Need to Know to Be an Ally in the Fight Against Caste Discrimination
Panelists
- Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Executive Director, Equality Labs
- Kevin Brown, Richard S. Levin Professor of Law, Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law
- Jaspreet Mahal, Accessibility Specialist for Graduate Students, Academic Services, Brandeis University
- Nico Slate, Professor of History and Department Head, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Moderator
- Lakshmi Gopal, Principal Attorney, Muciri Law
Joint Sponsor: ABA Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice
Co-Sponsors: ABA Center for Human Rights, ABA Center for Public Interest Law, ABA Commission on Disability Rights, ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities, ABA Commission on Homelessness & Poverty, ABA Commission on Immigration, ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline, ABA Criminal Justice Section, ABA Diversity and Inclusion Center, ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, ABA International Law Section, ABA Law Student Division, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress, ABA Standing Committee on Public Education, ABA Young Lawyers Division
Resources
Transcript: Invisible Apartheid: What You Need to Know to Be an Ally in The Fight Against Caste Discrimination
Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart
India 'untouchables' explained
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