365NEWSX
365NEWSX
Subscribe

Welcome

Big Tech’s big problem is also its ‘best-kept secret’: Caste discrimination

Big Tech’s big problem is also its ‘best-kept secret’: Caste discrimination

Jun 23, 2022 3 mins, 0 secs

America’s most prominent caste equity activist, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, was slated to give a talk at Google in April, for Dalit History Month.

She was ready, she said, to explain to one of the world’s largest tech companies that caste oppression is a problem — and that it probably exists under its roof, too.

She was armed with years worth of stats gathered through her civil rights organization, Equality Labs, which show that two-thirds of Dalits, those who have been historically oppressed under India’s caste system, have faced discrimination in their U.S.

But Dalit tech workers say that’s not enough.

What the incident at Google proves, Dalit tech workers and allies say, is that open caste discrimination runs rampant in their industry.

An unmoderated message board used by more than 8,700 South Asian workers at Google is home to attacks and disagreements, as well as discriminatory statements about Dalits, staff members said.

Google employees that are on the group say some dominant caste members have called Dalits "less educated" and equated caste equity to reverse discrimination.

“A lot of this has just created a very unsafe and toxic environment for caste-oppressed workers or those who are speaking up against caste,” one of the Google employees said. .

“At the workplace, it’s tricky because religion is a protected category,” the second employee  said.

“HR doesn’t have any competency around caste, and caste is not a protected category.” Google didn't respond to a request for comment about the message board's contents.

Other employees in the tech industry alleging caste-based discrimination say that what happened at Google is far from an isolated incident. .

After her dominant caste Indian boss found out she was Dalit, a project manager, who has worked at some of the U.S.’s largest tech companies and asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said she immediately began to pick up on hostility from him.

In front of everyone, he said, ‘Don’t touch that project because you’re ill-fated,’” the project manager said.

The lawsuit says that when the when the employee went to HR about the discrimination, he was allegedly told caste is not protected in the workplace.

The case was ultimately dropped and refiled in a county court, but many Dalit tech workers nationwide say the allegations resonate with them.

Another Dalit tech worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the stakes of coming forward are extremely high. .

Both Dalit workers said their stories highlight the necessity of caste being added as a protected category in the U.S

With the incident at Google compounding the public awareness, Silicon Valley is in another reckoning, the project manager said. 

A company higher-up told her “‘caste is not a protected category, so Google isn’t mandated to have these conversations,’” she said. Google did not respond to a request for comment on this allegation

After circulating the petition, she said she was made ineligible for promotions and her performance rating was lowered, plus she was barred from contacting any other Dalit speakers, so she chose to step down. 

“It is very obvious that Google management completely lacks comprehensive basics around what caste equity is and does not know how to create a safe workplace for caste-oppressed workers.”

He committed to improving representation in Google employees of all levels, starting anti-racism programming, donating money to racial justice orgs and supporting Black-owned businesses. 

But employees say when it comes to caste discrimination, the CEO, who is from a dominant caste, has been noticeably silent. 

“It’s very odd and malicious,” one of the anonymous Google employees said

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED