equal by law, unequal by caste - International Dalit Solidarity Network

Vol. 26, No. 2 Equal by Law, Unequal by Caste 265served its purpose, or as not being up to the task of alleviating a broadbasedsocial problem. In the latter category, the alternatives that areoffered in its place rarely find traction, let alone implementation in policyterms. Reservations, once the mask that India wore to hide the real faceof caste oppression, are now being attacked as an affront to (formal)equality and a barrier to achieving a caste-blind society. Yet formalequality assumes a level playing field—which it certainly is not forminorities in the United States or for Dalits and other marginalizedcommunities in India. 46 As critical race theory scholar Crenshaw notes inthe context of the rhetoric of colorblindness in the United States, thisremarkable strategy is a “breathtakingly bold act of cooption” whereincolorblindness “now delivers its reputation and historical capital to aspecious claim that the journey to the promised land is nearlycomplete.” 47African-Americans and Dalits are also now made to competeagainst other marginalized communities in their respective countries forsufficient attention to their demands and their rights. It seems the smallslice of the pie reserved for non-whites and non-“upper-caste” Indianshas not grown much bigger, and attempts to broaden the collective shareinvites swift protest and condemnation in the conservative media, on thestreets, at the polls, and in the courtroom. Regrettably, the attendantclaims of women in both struggles, and the compounded discriminationthey face, get lost in the debate.Like the United States, India exhibits a temporal tension betweenstriving for equality as a space where caste categories (or, in othercountries, racial categories) do not matter, and the need to continuallyidentify and name the categories that have been used to create hierarchyor exclusion for the purposes of ensuring social inclusion. 48 Such atension is reflected at the level of policy, of social movements, and ofpolitical discourse, both for and against caste-conscious measures toensure social inclusion.464748Though not the subject of this Article, other communities face extreme marginalization and/orhuman rights abuses in India, including tribal community members, Muslims, Christians, andSikhs. The treatment of Dalits, including those who have converted to other faiths, is unique,however, because of their placement on the wrong side of the purity-pollution line and becauseof the social disabilities that arise from their “untouchable” status.Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Framing Affirmative Action, 105 MICH. L. REV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS132-33 (2007).Author’s discussions with Satish Deshpande, Aug. 2007. See, e.g., Dudley Jenkins, supra note31 at 747, 750 (arguing that in both India and the United States there exists a debate between aview that warns against enforcing existing racial lines and a view that says we can “retain andreconstruct racial categories as a means of empowerment”).