SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), released the following statement in response to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s veto of SB403, which would have enacted a statewide ban on caste discrimination in California:
“It is no surprise that California’s Democratic Governor Newsom has shamefully vetoed the statewide bill that would have banned caste discrimination. Just days ago, Newsom (who is a multimillionaire himself) also outrageously vetoed a bill backed by WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and other labor unions, which would have given unemployment benefits to workers on strike.
“This veto on the bill to ban caste discrimination is, not coincidentally, coming at a time when US imperialism, led currently by President Biden and the Democrats, is courting the regime of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his far-right BJP. In fact, the Biden administration has said that the Modi regime is a “linchpin” in the U.S. agenda in the New Cold War. And Hindu right-wing organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation, which vehemently opposed the anti-caste-discrimination bill, are closely aligned with the Modi regime.
“It’s clear that Newsom, Biden, and the Democratic Party as a whole care far more for the strategic relations of the American ruling class with the reactionary Modi regime than they do for oppressed-caste and other marginalized people.
“This is a setback, and it’s important activists and working people learn the lessons and understand why we won in Seattle but not in California. As Socialist Alternative and I have said since we won our historic first-in-the-nation Seattle legislation against caste discrimination in February—we won because we built a fighting struggle of rank-and-file activists and workers, not putting our faith in Seattle’s Democratic Party establishment. Here in Seattle too, Democrats, including self-described progressive ones, were initially opposed to our bill, some of them repeating Hindu right-wing talking points.
“Seattle Democrats were forced to vote YES only because of the strength of our grassroots, working-class campaign. This meant building a public campaign, not behind-the-scenes discussions with Democratic Party power brokers. We mobilized hundreds of working people who gave public testimony, making it very clear to the Democrats that they didn’t get to claim the mantle of “progressiveness” if they voted NO on the legislation. Activists in the Seattle campaign educated non-South-Asian working people, using the Frequently Asked Questions document from my Council office. We empowered working people with clear responses to the falsehoods and misrepresentation from the Hindu right wing.
“If anything, given the high stakes in a prominent state like California, such a bold campaign and fighting strategy, including public rallies independent of Democratic politicians, was even more necessary. Unfortunately, the NGO organizations that led the California effort failed to take this approach. They instead worked in collaboration with Democratic politicians, and refused to put pressure on the Democrats. They also failed to explain the link between the U.S.-based Hindu right wing and the Modi regime.
“Newsom’s veto of these pro-working-class and anti-oppression bills is a reminder, once again, of how the Democratic Party is as tied to the interests of the ruling class as the Republicans are. Working people and those fighting against caste discrimination and other forms of oppression need to build independent movements and fight to build our own political organizations, because the Democratic Party is a graveyard of social movements. Most immediately, we need to organize meetings among anti-caste activists in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and other countries to discuss the lessons of Seattle’s victory and begin building independent campaigns.”
