What California's Ravidassia community believes and why they want caste bias outlawed

Source: Associated Press

What California’s Ravidassia community believes and why they want caste bias outlawed

By DEEPA BHARATH
May 29, 2023

In California, members of an under-the-radar, minority religious community are stepping into the public eye to advocate for making the state the first in the nation to outlaw caste bias.

They are the Ravidassia — followers of Ravidass, a 14th century Indian guru who preached caste and class equality. There are about 20,000 members of the community in California, most of them in the Central Valley.

Guru Ravidass belonged to the lowest-rung of the caste system formerly considered untouchable and also known as Dalit, which means “broken” in Hindi. Today, many Ravidassia members share that caste identity, but they are hesitant to make that widely known, fearing repercussions for being exposed to the larger community as “lower-caste.”

Members of the Fresno Ravidassia community say publicly championing the anti-caste bias legislation is worth the risk, noting that fighting for equality is part of their history and their spiritual DNA.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-caste-discrimination-bill-ravidassia-sikh-explainer-b0383d1583670fc6cedfeebf6c943d25