Long before the outbreak of COVID-19, a more pernicious form of social distancing was widespread across India: the Hindu caste system. In one form or another, this system – which has existed in the ...

Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy based on one’s birth that is tied to concepts of purity and social status. Its history, evolution and current state are complicated. A move to outlaw ...

Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and nonprofit organizations. She has conducted in-depth research on social and economic issues ...

Activists in Guwahati, Assam, India, hold placards during a protest on Oct. 3, 2020 over the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman after an alleged gang rape in Uttar Pradesh. A new Bollywood movie is ...

Two Hindu professors are suing the head of their university system to oppose the addition of caste to an anti-discrimination policy amid a broader battle over whether colleges should explicitly call ...

Why do people defend social systems that oppress them? Why do the marginalized sometimes work to uphold structures and arrangements that limit their potential? These questions are not just ...

(RNS) — As more institutions adopt policies against caste discrimination, disagreements about caste's prevalence among those in the Hindu diaspora are stronger than ever. (RNS) — Nearly a decade ago, ...

(RNS) — An ongoing fight in the California Legislature and the courts focuses not on caste discrimination itself but whether efforts to end it only make it worse. (RNS) — The first-ever Caste Con, an ...

Nuns from a group of Dalit Christians, or India’s lowest caste who converted to Christianity, protest in New Delhi. AP Photo/Gurinder Osan The California State University system, America’s largest ...

FILE - Members of the audience listen to a speaker at a rally organized by National Conference of Dalit Organisations in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2005. Dalits, who belong to the lowest of ...