Can It Happen Here?

There’s a post at The Diplomat on caste discrimination in the United Kingdom that I found informative and distressing:

“One is of the opinion that you leave behind all the trappings of the caste system once you leave India, but perhaps I was naive.”

Saunvedan Aparanti, an Indian student studying in London, has found himself at the center of a heated campaign to introduce caste discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom. Having moved to Britain for university, Aparanti was surprised to find himself at the receiving end of “caste supremacy” from his new flatmates. The caste system he speaks of — and its trappings — is one that the world has, unfortunately, become familiar with. Stories relating to caste violence frequently emerge from some South Asian countries, particularly India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Headlines featuring the rape and murder of so-called “lower caste” people, or Dalits, are no longer rare.

I certainly hope that this problem isn’t being brought here. I’ve never seen it but I doubt I would even recognize it or know that it was going on. We have enough problems as it is without importing more.

However, as I’ve pointed out before, immigrants tend to bring their social and political ideas with them. That’s why New York and Chicago have machine politics and why 19th century progressivism became a political force in the Upper Midwest. We presently have as many immigrants as a percentage of the population as at any time in our history. It would be amazing if we weren’t importing entirely new social and political issues right along with them.