PRESS RELEASE
Ambedkar King Study Circle (AKSC) in Support of California SB 403, a bill to ban caste discrimination. Legal protections for Californians who face caste oppression are now within reach
For Immediate Release
(Ambedkar King Study Circle – Sep 6, 2023)
Dear Governor Mr. Newsom,
We hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits.
We are writing to express our strong support for California Senate Bill 403 (CA SB 403) introduced by Senator Aisha Wahab. We urge you to sign the bill into law. Being a bill that strengthens legal protections against caste discrimination in the domains of housing, employment, and education, your signing it will free the caste oppressed from the fear of discrimination, exclusion and isolation. It will enable us to unlock our full human potential in our Golden State.
We are profoundly hopeful, and are committed to working on making sure that the passing of this bill will facilitate both the prevention and the remediation of caste based discrimination that routinely occur across industries and socio-cultural spaces.
Since the introduction of the bill, however, the opponents of CA SB 403 have embarked upon a well-funded misinformation campaign, which among other false propaganda, alleges that legal protections for the caste oppressed people are a violation of their first amendment religious rights. We want to bring to your attention that the United States federal court has, just this past week, decisively rejected their claim that even the filing of a caste-based discrimination lawsuit violates their religious freedoms. This judgment exposes those who seek to exploit religious rights to infringe upon civil rights. It also serves as a timely reminder about this shameless majoritarian tactic against which we’ve had to continually struggle in our historical march toward justice and humanity.
We urge you to sign the bill at the earliest. You will be making our state safe from one of the oldest forms of oppression in the world.
Sincerely,
Executive Committee
Ambedkar King Study Circle, California
Media Contact: akscsfba@gmail.com
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