Fresno, California, has become the second city in the U.S. to ban caste discrimination, after the City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to incorporate two new protected categories into its municipal code.
Discrimination based on caste or indigeneity is now illegal in the city.
In the midst of a nationwide civil rights movement, led mostly by South Asian Americans who come from caste-oppressed backgrounds, local governments, business and institutions have been contending with the caste question. In February, Seattle became the first U.S. city to explicitly ban caste discrimination, and in California, a bill currently on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would do the same statewide.
The article also mentions Indian-American couples and some info around that. It wasn’t as clearly stated, but it didn’t sound like it faired worse than traditional American marriage, and the women should have free will in the US.
I’m not married, so my ideology really can’t be that one must marry, or else that would leave me in a weird spot. But I can ignore statistics, that married people live longer and a generally happier, especially as they get older. As I enter middle age, the idea of growing old alone sounds awful and I have a very real fear of dying over something really stupid, because there is no one around to notice I’m dying and get help. The stress around that is real.