Want to Know About the Future of AI Equity? Watch What’s Happening in California

Sareeta Amrute is Associate Professor of Strategic Design at Parsons, The New School and Principal Researcher at the Data & Society Research Institute. California State Capitol, Sacramento. Shutterstock. Two bills currently making their way through the California legislature could make the state a leader on tech equity. The first bill, SB-403, which passed the California Senate on May 5th, clarifies that discrimination on the basis of caste—defined as “an individual’s perceived position in a system of social stratification on the basis of inherited status”—is unlawful under California’s anti-discrimination laws. By explicitly adding caste to California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and Fair Housing and Employment Act, the bill recognizes a type of discrimination that affects all the countries and religions of South Asia–which include Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and the Maldives–as well as forms of discrimination based on inherited identity categories found in Africa, Latin America, and Japan.  Including caste in California’s anti-discrimination laws better equips the state’s Civil Rights Department to investigate cases of caste-based discrimination, which is often hidden and not easily recognized. It also encourages private employers to comply with the law and ensure that caste-based discrimination is not occurring at their workplaces. SB-403 will also make it easier for those experiencing caste-discrimination to come forth, especially when they may fear reprisals compounded by a temporary visa status, because it sends a clear signal to companies that caste needs to be taken seriously as a category of discrimination at work.  Even though detractors believe adding…Want to Know About the Future of AI Equity? Watch What’s Happening in California