In March, Sen. Aisha Wahab introduced SB 403, which would ban caste-based discrimination in California. The caste system is a Hindu practice that has been around for thousands of years and is most prevalent in countries with large Hindu populations, primarily in South Asia. It is a fixed social designation that an individual is born into, so a person cannot move up the caste system (which distinguishes it from socioeconomic status).

The caste system imposes restrictions on things such as a person’s occupation, where they live, and who they can marry. There are five castes, in order of highest to lowest: Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers); Vaishyas (farmers, traders and merchants); Shudras (laborers); and Dalits (street sweepers, latrine cleaners).

Purported Need for the Legislation

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]