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Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

reuters.com

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Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#21

Post by achow »

j45 wrote: post #10

Long overdue. Those who are most offended by a light being shed on this practice are often those who have benefited from it the most. For many (the 98% who are not the correct caste), caste is a sin that they cannot be freed of. This has been well being entrenched in place for over 20-25 years. It can be found at any large tech company not just in SV, but beyond too. Children are destined to be treated as less as if…

In India caste based reservation system (affirmative actions) applies to 50-60% of population.. and some places much much more [1]. Folks with caste and hence benefactor of the system are in majority, those who don't have that are in actually minority.

[1] In the State of Tamil Nadu, the caste-based reservation stands at 69 percent and applies to about 87 percent of the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_in_India

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#22

Post by 29athrowaway »

superchroma wrote: post #4
akomtu wrote: post #2

They confront it by appointing brahmins to the top management.

I think I've seen this. People were careless and made a high caste a feature lead and instead of working with our team, she ended up stealing one low caste from his assigned work and bossing him around and micromanaging him the entire time to work exclusively on her feature, in a way that wasn't very friendly. He was, otherwise, a decent employee who was patient, attentive and thorough. It didn't seem appropriate to…

Best thing you can do in this situation is document everything then sue for wrongful termination/constructive dismissal.

This is going to become easier now once forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts are no longer enforceable.

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#23

Post by bodhiandpysics1 »

fargle wrote: post #15
j45 wrote: post #10

Long overdue. Those who are most offended by a light being shed on this practice are often those who have benefited from it the most. For many (the 98% who are not the correct caste), caste is a sin that they cannot be freed of. This has been well being entrenched in place for over 20-25 years. It can be found at any large tech company not just in SV, but beyond too. Children are destined to be treated as less as if…

Honest question - once immigrated to the US or other places, what makes ones caste obvious? Is it found out by surname? Can it be faked ( not saying that's a acceptable solution, but it obviously doesn't seem work).

While last name is the big giveaway for caste, there's another issue that effects tech workers in the us, the IITs. These are the creme de la creme of indian educational istitutions (and to be honest, the single smartest group of people i've ever met). A certain percentage of seats in the IITs are reserved for people from low castes, and the IITs are tiny, so the graduates tend to know each other. Thus the reputation that you got in in the reservation can follow you.

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#24

Post by j45 »

fargle wrote: post #15
j45 wrote: post #10

Long overdue. Those who are most offended by a light being shed on this practice are often those who have benefited from it the most. For many (the 98% who are not the correct caste), caste is a sin that they cannot be freed of. This has been well being entrenched in place for over 20-25 years. It can be found at any large tech company not just in SV, but beyond too. Children are destined to be treated as less as if…

Honest question - once immigrated to the US or other places, what makes ones caste obvious? Is it found out by surname? Can it be faked ( not saying that's a acceptable solution, but it obviously doesn't seem work).

Surname is one for sure.

I think HN has articles about people changing their names.

Also, people who are anti-caste are quite open about it. The rest probably not so much, or will say it's not so bad, or it's been mis-understood, or that the root of it was better than the practice, or the practice of it now is much better than the root was.

It's difficult to reconcile and self-examine the blurring of socio/cultural/political/religious division among a billion people to keep them focused on pinning each other down, instead of building each other up.

Caste also works in the shadows, like every downvote I'm grateful to pay for with not having that kind of karma.

Nothing personal, I just think every human life is equal in potential and things like caste (like education) limit access to opportunity to uplift your own life and the generations after you.

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#26

Post by [deleted] »

achow wrote: post #21
j45 wrote: post #10

Long overdue. Those who are most offended by a light being shed on this practice are often those who have benefited from it the most. For many (the 98% who are not the correct caste), caste is a sin that they cannot be freed of. This has been well being entrenched in place for over 20-25 years. It can be found at any large tech company not just in SV, but beyond too. Children are destined to be treated as less as if…

In India caste based reservation system (affirmative actions) applies to 50-60% of population.. and some places much much more [1]. Folks with caste and hence benefactor of the system are in majority, those who don't have that are in actually minority. [1] In the State of Tamil Nadu, the caste-based reservation stands at 69 percent and applies to about 87 percent of the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reser…

[deleted]

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#27

Post by 29athrowaway »

margalabargala wrote: post #19

I see the claim made that caste-ism doesn't fall under existing discrimination laws, but I don't really see how it's actually any different from run-of-the-mill racism. Caste is familially inherited. So a person is being judged based upon their ancestry. The only difference between "that group of families is inherently inferior" and "that race is inherently inferior" seems to be how broadly/narrowly you define "race"…

The law should simply say: do you observe any beliefs that make you treat a group of people in a favorable or unfavorable way, based on criteria other than academic or professional qualifications? If so, you should declare your conflict of interest at the beginning of each meeting and document and be excluded from professional decisions involving hiring, firing, promotions, etc.

Ideally, this should also apply to investors not only employers.

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#28

Post by bodhiandpysics1 »

29athrowaway wrote: post #12

In this system, what caste are non Indians?

Technically untouchables... but in practice white people can be very high caste indeed. I worked with a sanskritist in Chennai who was a very traditional brahman, and he did eat with me, but was extremely careful about separate food and separate plates (Tamilian Brahmans of that type are always careful about these things, but he was more careful than needed. I didn't mind since I'm jewish and used to weird dietary restrictions).

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#29

Post by vsskanth »

I wonder what's gonna happen once these reporters find out about regionalism (people favoring those who speak their mother tongue or those from the same state they grew up in India). These type of professional networks at work are so much more common.

Many seem to forget India is a very diverse nation and you end up with entirely different cultures in the same nationality.

Re: Caste in California: Tech giants confront ancient Indian hierarchy

#30

Post by 29athrowaway »

bodhiandpysics1 wrote: post #28
29athrowaway wrote: post #12

In this system, what caste are non Indians?

Technically untouchables... but in practice white people can be very high caste indeed. I worked with a sanskritist in Chennai who was a very traditional brahman, and he did eat with me, but was extremely careful about separate food and separate plates (Tamilian Brahmans of that type are always careful about these things, but he was more careful than needed. I didn't mind since I'm jewish and used to weird dietary re…

So technically Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Elon Musk are untouchables in that system?
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