We all have a unique perspective: Sign up for This is America, a weekly take on the news from reporters from a range of backīiden's free college plan never happened: Are debt-free degrees the answer to student loan crisis? His efforts proved successful, and the university awarded him for drawing attention to the issue. Pariyar has advocated for the social work department at California State University, East Bay to recognize caste as a social category that deserves special attention and protection. Most Americans might be unaware of caste, he said, but he thought they would understand when he explained the inequality at play. Their caste could limit where they lived or whom they married.Īfter the surprise wore off, Pariyar said, he felt he had to speak up. They had been relegated to hard and unpleasant physical labor, such as cleaning bathrooms or disposing of dead animals. India outlawed caste discrimination more than 50 years ago, but members of the Dalit community say they still face discrimination and hostility from those who sit atop the hierarchy. I came here to the United States and could not leave that caste identity.” “I thought I had left that caste discrimination in Nepal,” Pariyar said. The bias can be subtle – people backing away when they learn his last name or insisting that he use different utensils at a party – but Pariyar felt it immediately. He had fled Nepal to avoid the prejudice and violence, but he found he, his wife and children were still ostracized in America in connection to their caste.

To encounter caste-based discrimination in America, Pariyar said, was an unwelcome shock. His family is considered Dalit, the lowest rung of the hierarchical system known as caste in which people are assigned social status based on their birth. Meet Prem Pariyar, 37, a Nepali immigrant and member of a growing community pushing American universities to rebuke caste discrimination.Ĭaste is painfully familiar to Pariyar.

Badaga caste category