Bill Text: CA SCR54 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 54

Introduced

Bill Title: Dalit History Month.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-04-26 - Re-referred to Com. on JUD. [SCR54 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SCR54-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Concurrent Resolution

No. 54

Introduced by Senator Wahab

April 17, 2023

Relative to Dalit History Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 54, as introduced, Wahab. Dalit History Month.

This measure would declare that the Legislature joins the Dalit communities throughout California in celebrating April as Dalit History Month.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, California is a racially and culturally diverse state comprising many peoples and communities; and

WHEREAS, The State of California is committed to addressing all forms of racism and discrimination; and

WHEREAS, Caste discrimination, recognized as social stratification based on a combination of heredity and work, is a form of discrimination founded on ill-conceived notions of impurity, pollution, and structural exclusion; and

WHEREAS, Caste discrimination and analogous systems of discrimination based on work and descent have existed for more than 2,000 years and have included educational discrimination, economic disenfranchisement, discrimination in medical care, and increased vulnerability to poverty, hunger, violence, rape, and humiliation; and

WHEREAS, Adoption of General Recommendation No. 29 by the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) strongly reaffirms that discrimination based on “descent” includes discrimination against members of communities based on forms of social stratification, such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status, which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights; and

WHEREAS, Caste discrimination and analogous systems of discrimination based on work and descent continues to be widespread and persistent throughout the globe and across the diaspora of, but not limited to, South Asia, East Asia, Africa, and Latin America, affecting an estimated 260,000,000 people worldwide, with the highest number of victims found in South Asia; and

WHEREAS, The status of untouchability significantly increases Dalit and other caste-oppressed communities’ vulnerability to debt bondage, forced labor, child labor, domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and all forms of human trafficking and modern-day labor enslavements; and

WHEREAS, Despite the numerous laws enacted for the protection and betterment of the Dalits at the intergovernmental and national level, caste-oppressed communities continue to face structural exclusion across the world, including in California; and

WHEREAS, Caste discrimination is now found across California in workplaces, education, and community institutions; and

WHEREAS, Caste-based discrimination can lead to social exclusion, economic marginalization, and physical violence, and potentially hinder access to employment, education, health care, housing, and other basic services, limiting caste-oppressed communities’ ability to fully participate in society; and

WHEREAS, April is a significant month for Dalit communities, and includes birth and death anniversaries of important Dalit leaders and social reformers in the movement against systemic discrimination based on caste, the foremost of which is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who is an architect of the Indian constitution and a caste equity trailblazer; and

WHEREAS, Dalit History Month is an opportunity to honor, celebrate, and reflect on the history, experiences, and accomplishments of the Dalit and caste-oppressed communities; and

WHEREAS, The State of California acknowledges the strength and resiliency of the Dalit community in overcoming hardships and advocating for social justice and equality for all; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature joins the Dalit communities throughout the State of California in celebrating April as Dalit History Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.