California is preparing to become the first US state to ban discrimination based on caste, a historic form of discrimination that originated in the Indian subcontinent 3,000 years ago, the Associated Press and The Guardian reported.

California’s local legislature has already voted in favor of a bill proposing the ban, and it will now go to Governor Gavin Newsom for ratification.

The bill’s authors say it will provide additional protection to people who come from countries such as India, Nepal and Bangladesh, noting that caste-based discrimination is not prohibited under current law.

The move comes after California authorities have taken more action against this type of discrimination in recent years.

For example, government regulators sued tech giant Cisco in 2020, alleging that two upper-caste Indian managers discriminated against an engineer who was offered lower pay and a worse contract because of his caste.

Last year, California State University became the first in the American system of higher education to add caste to its list aimed at protecting vulnerable groups.

The Guardian reminds us that this liberal US state has been the site of some of the most disturbing caste crimes in recent American history.

In 2001, a landlord named Lakireddy Bali Reddy, who rented apartments in the San Francisco Bay Area, was convicted of trafficking and sexually assaulting more than 20 Indian women over a 15-year period. He spent 8 years in prison before his release.

Civil society organizations warn that many people in India are still tied to the caste system

The caste system can be traced back to the Indian subcontinent as far back as 3,000 years ago, being a social hierarchy based on occupation and the family into which a person was born.

Although India banned it 75 years ago, rights groups say many Indians, especially older generations, still relate to it.

However, the California bill has its opponents.

For example, a letter sent to the local legislature by the American Hindu Foundation warned that South Asians could be “forced to answer intrusive questions about the person they are married to or be judged.”

Although it was passed by a large majority, the bill was condemned by 5 Republican lawmakers who charged that it could actually discriminate against people of South Asian descent.

Shannon Grove, one of the local legislators, also said that the caste system is a complex subject and that there is no universally accepted definition of it.

Although public opinion generally associates the caste system with India, it is also present in other countries where the Hindu religion is practiced.