The efficacy of our campaign work is also demonstrated by victories like the Seattle City Council’s passage of Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s landmark bill to ban caste discrimination in the city. This momentous win was achieved as a result of a decade of Dalit feminist organizing that broke the silence on caste oppression. We are rapidly building power across our movement to fight against caste discrimination and bigotry.
While our campaign in Seattle was the first time in the U.S. that we witnessed the passage of legislation that advances caste equity, we continue to gear up, advocate, and build power to ensure all cities, states, and institutions in the U.S. add caste as a protected category. The future holds much promise for caste equity.
![Happy #DalitHistoryMonth. This April, we are amplifying our "Dr Ambedkar 101" multimedia series created in collaboration with visual artist @artedkar. Ambedkar's declaration to “educate, agitate, and organize” continues to drive forward our contemporary struggle for Dalit liberation. 💙
---
Dr B R Ambedkar's formative years were filled with instances of casteism he faced as a child, and particularly of importance is what he faced as a student. Here are Babasaheb’s own recollections from his book "Waiting for a Visa"
"I knew that in school I could not sit in the midst of my classmates according to my rank [in class performance], but that I was to sit in a corner by myself. I knew that in the school I was to have a separate piece of gunny cloth for me to squat on in the classroom, and the servant employed to clean the school would not touch the gunny cloth used by me. I was required to carry the gunny cloth home in the evening, and bring it back the next day.
While in the school I knew that children of the touchable classes, when they felt thirsty, could go out to the water tap, open it, and quench their thirst. All that was necessary was the permission of the teacher. But my position was separate. I could not touch the tap; and unless it was opened for it by a touchable person, it was not possible for me to quench my thirst.
In my case the permission of the teacher was not enough. The presence of the school peon was necessary, for he was the only person whom the class teacher could use for such a purpose. If the peon was not available, I had to go without water."
Understanding these experiences is crucial not only because they shaped Babasaheb's work towards equitable access for all in educational institutions, but also because such casteism continues in classrooms across India today.
Segregating students on the basis of caste continues, either explicitly, or through established Brahmanical caste markers such as surnames, meat consumption, or even where one is expected to sit in a classroom. The popular stereotype of 'backbenchers' as unmeritorious, rowdy students with no interest in studying owes itself to this casteist segregation.](https://www.equalitylabs.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)