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Indian caste system

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Dalit Americans make a pilgrimage to Ambedkar Avenue, named for civil rights hero

Caste in America

There’s a short stretch of road in the “Little India” section of Jersey City bearing a name unfamiliar to most Americans.  But for some Indian Americans, Ambedkar Avenue is almost a pilgrimage spot, for it commemorates their greatest hero — and one with an American connection at that.

A woman looks to the side.

Caste discrimination exists on college campuses. Some schools are trying to change that.

Caste in America
An man sits at a desk with a book and looks at the camera

The US isn’t safe from the trauma of caste bias

Caste in America
An Indian woman in a sari and glasses and an Indian man in a suit and glasses sit for a portrait.

Love conquers caste for this couple, but Indian marriage traditions continue in US

Caste in America
A man in business attire holding a briefcase walks past a shirtless man stooping over plastic bags

Does America have a caste system?

Caste in America
Girls eating their lunch at a government school in Bawani Khera village, in south central Haryana.

India’s free school lunches can fight — or reinforce — caste discrimination in India

Lifestyle & Belief

On the one hand, India’s school lunch program encourages children from lower-caste communities to enroll in school. And where the program works well, it brings children from different castes together. But in some states, the program is actually used as a tool to reinforce discrimination.On the one hand, India’s school lunch program encourages children from lower-caste communities to enroll in school. And where the program works well, it brings children from different castes together. But in some states, the program is actually used as a tool to reinforce discrimination.

At a government school in Paposa, Haryana, children devour kadhi and rice.

India’s school lunch program not only fights hunger — it can breed tolerance

Lifestyle & Belief

When India launched its massive school lunch program, the aim was to boost school enrollment and feed some of the country’s poorest children. But in some schools, it is having an added, and unexpected, benefit — reducing discrimination against those in lower castes. When India launched its massive school lunch program, the aim was to boost school enrollment and feed some of the country’s poorest children. But in some schools, it is having an added, and unexpected, benefit — reducing discrimination against those in lower castes.