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Comment by fortuealex | Hacker News Reader

I can't tell if this is the sixties and I'm reading some argument against the Civil Rights Act.

You can’t just forget racism because the superficial differences are too stark. The caste system is akin to Europeans forgetting who was a serf and who was nobility. Something that can be left in the past. Do you want to have laws that prevent discrimination against former European serfs?

I think it's way worst than that. The caste system has deep spiritual roots in Hinduism that are over 2000 years old. Certain upper (high Brahmin, presumably) castes would literally have to perform purifying rituals if they even laid eyes on someone from one of the lowest(?) castes. No such parallel exists in Europe afaik.

Source: the origins of political order, F. Fukuyama

And serfs were tied to and sold with the land for hundreds of years. They were essentially slaves.

What difference do the origins make, all that matters is if you have a generation that can’t tell the difference it all dies.

I think the spiritual element is way more degrading, and indicates a much higher degree of prejudice.

That may or may not be true but this defensive comment has no bearing on the current discussion about outcomes.

Why would it need to be the 60's? There's plenty of groups today who support weakening or repealing the Civil Rights Act, and those groups increasingly get the attention of elected officials at all levels.

Having said that, it is very easy to discriminate against someone with a different skin color. But a different caste? I truly do not know how anyone who have any idea what caste a person belonged to, or comes from. But I am very curious.

My understanding is that last names can be a clue, for those in the know.

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