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Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

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Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#401

Post by alarak »

ir123 wrote: post #365
thweori234234 wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, Sai Deepak mentions that 15% of those classified as SC/STs also wear the sacred thread. Of course, we know 'Shudras' have run empires in India and have held high status before the age of colonialism. Unsuprising that the Western press and academia has the nuance of a brick, perhaps because their own history is so grotesquely checkered.

This is extremely misleading and a copout to suggest that even SC/STs wear the thread. Reality is that 99.99% of them don't. I wouldn't trust Sai Deepak with anything, he's a nut job who for some reason sounds eloquent to the upper class Hindus.

For what reason do you say that?

edit: asking this question to clarify since the other reply(ies) take this as a given.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#402

Post by RichardCA »

thweori234234 wrote: post #363
thumbsup-_- wrote: post #356

> A pat on the shoulder might be a friendly greeting—or a search for a sacred thread that some dominant-caste Hindu men wear beneath their shirts I'm a non-dalit Indian working in silicon valley. I know that caste based discrimination is still prevalent in India and not surprised that it continues in here in silicon valley as well amongst Indian community but I'm surprised to read this part in the article. I have nev…

Actually, Sai Deepak mentions that 15% of those classified as SC/STs also wear the sacred thread. Of course, we know 'Shudras' have run empires in India and have held high status before the age of colonialism. Unsuprising that the Western press and academia has the nuance of a brick, perhaps because their own history is so grotesquely checkered.

> Unsuprising that the Western press and academia has the nuance of a brick, perhaps because their own history is so grotesquely checkered.

There will always be an element of the intangible in any effort by the Western mind to understand India. The experience is one of irreducible complexity, the subject receding from attempts to form a mental framework that permits nuanced understanding.

This documentary is 50 years old. Nothing has changed.

https://youtu.be/XFGO8oL0RLk

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#403

Post by proshno »

rhuru wrote: post #388

Most of the time you look deeply these stories are coming from Hinduphobic think tanks eventually funded by Islamist and/or evangelists. SONIA PAUL the writer is probably funded by the same Bangladeshi group that funded the fake Cisco caste lawsuite.

No post body was provided.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#404

Post by pm90 »

dsl wrote: post #188
pansinghkoder wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or almost like a white man hiring another white man?

This in itself is an incredibly racist statement. It is like saying "an asian hiring another asian" while completely ignoring any sub-groups. "White men" are more diverse than you think and have only in modern times put things like hibernophobia behind us.

> "White men" are more diverse than you think and have only in modern times put things like hibernophobia behind us.

While this may be factually correct, that’s not exactly what racism here refers to, and to dismiss it as such is ignoring legitimate concerns.

Yea, there might be diversity among white men. However. White Men weren’t enslaved in large numbers. White men weren’t excluded by redlining. American society did not systematically deny the same opportunities to white men that it denied to other races and genders.

So when talking about racism, it’s not really helpful to point out that by definition not all white men are the same.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#405

Post by pantalaimon »

peter303 wrote: post #158
bleah1000 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you enforce this? In the US this is completely illegal. In addition, you would have to ask extremely invasive questions of everyone. So is your proposal that you require that your company ask for the detailed ethnicity of everyone? What happens when people refuse, do you just not allow them to interview or manage? What about people who were born in the US, do you assume that if they are of Japanese descent…

In India the surname might indicate caste. Then easy to tell in States.

How would you know which is which if you are not Indian?

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#406

Post by pm90 »

jeffy90 wrote: post #130
zxienin wrote: post #67

I am from “upper caste”. My experience might not be commonly heard perspective. In 10th grade of schooling, my parents changed my lastname to avoid that folks figure out the caste. Due to affirmative action (aka reservation) on steroids, upper caste were losing opportunities. My parents wanted to avoid that I lose out on selection, promotions.., where subjective discretion was involved. I do not recall ever seeing ca…

These posts consistently make it to the front page of HN. I'm not denying that casteism exists, but since the subject draws so much attention, reporters must feel incentivized to write about it.

Or, perhaps the issue is pretty rampant and reporters are doing their job by reporting it.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#407

Post by random314 »

mama123 wrote: post #237
random314 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In India dalits are about 20%. In Silicon valley, I would be surprised if they are more than 2%. India is like 3 different countries when sliced by caste. The highest castes are about as privileged as the typical Chinese. The middle are at sub saharan Africa levels. The bottom 25% constitute probably the most deprived population in the world. Better off than the Rohingyas but not by too much. "Jay Bhim" is a great mo…

The movie is quite controversial as it twists reality to target and tarnish specific castes. The perpetrators in real life were Christians but portrayed as Hindus. The Hindu villagers who in real life helped the victim seek justice are portrayed as casteists who hinder justice. A lot of literature, news articles and movies are made to exacerbate the problem and create problems where none exist.

No the police and state apparatus was upper caste hindu. One of the police officers was Christian - no one else.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#408

Post by rando827 »

This seems to indicate discrimination is done by upper castes only. The reality is that everyone discriminates might be same for other religions in India. I am from what they call other backward caste. If you speak my relatives/community they don't like brahmins thinking as if they are superior to us. But they in turn think they are superior to other castes below them!. You don't hear much about other castes since its easy to abuse brahmins they don't have much legal power to fight back. While criticizing other castes can put you in jail.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#409

Post by nindalf »

pm90 wrote: post #398
thumbsup-_- wrote: post #356

> A pat on the shoulder might be a friendly greeting—or a search for a sacred thread that some dominant-caste Hindu men wear beneath their shirts I'm a non-dalit Indian working in silicon valley. I know that caste based discrimination is still prevalent in India and not surprised that it continues in here in silicon valley as well amongst Indian community but I'm surprised to read this part in the article. I have nev…

I have also never heard of this sort of patting shoulder behavior but I think we have to accept it as a truth if it’s something being reported by many people. Caste and class divisions run very deep in South Asian culture. I’m disappointed that even in tech where workers are generally highly educated this is something that continues to exist (please: I’m not talking about the necessity of a college education to be a…

Why the alleged patting behaviour seems unlikely - even if it worked, it would only tell you if the person is a member of the relatively few castes that wear that.

Re: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s hidden caste system

#410

Post by bhasi »

bradleyjg wrote: post #228
nirav72 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we please stop conflating casteism as racism? While both equally horrible, one is not same as the other. One can possibly hide their caste. But a person cant change their racial phenotypes.

This is not so cut and dry. The US has a long history of people “passing”.

Had to look up what "passing" meant in this context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_(racial_identity)
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