Thread by @SuhagAShukla

#Leaked: an internal “FAQ” that Kshama Sawant is sharing with her @SeattleCouncil colleagues defending her unlawful caste proposal targeting South Asians is egregiously biased & hateful.

A fact check 🧵

@D5Juarez @Lisa_Herbold @CMSaraNelson @LewisforSeattle @SeaCityAttorney

As Sawant admits, Seattle policy already bans discrimination based on national origin - ancestry too. What she doesn’t say is that her proposal violates the very policies that she seeks to amend by discriminating against a minority on the basis of their national origin & ancestry

Targeting just South Asians based on a biased Equality Labs survey that the credible Carnegie Endowment panned is not just wrong, it’s unethical.

Sawant falls back on this flawed “survey” as she lacks facts and evidence.

In fact, Sawant goes to the extent of saying we don’t even need studies! She would just label South Asians casteist and tell @SeattleCouncil to just believe her & her allies—ignoring what so many of those actually living and working in Seattle are saying.

Of course Sawant labels @HinduAmerican “right-wing.” From her radical vantage as a self-described “Marxist socialist” any reasonable voice is right wing. We won’t be intimidated by Sawant’s tactics & neither should @SeattleCouncil become a part of Sawant’s ideological project.

Exactly! Caste has no markers. This is why this proposal will infringe on due process. How will @SeaCityAttorney enforce a policy on caste when there is no way to determine a person’s caste? Will Seattle just assign a caste & determine which is oppressed or dominant? Ludicrous!

See how Sawant racializes caste? Targeting brown South Asians is not the same as fighting anti-black racism or what LGBT folks face.

There is no appearance or religious practice that distinguishes caste. Sawant is making up a category to fulfill a political agenda

Sawant’s FAQ’s make clear that while she leaves @SeattleCouncil in disgrace, her goal is to signal to her ideological fellow travelers her broader political goals. We hope the Seattle City Council rejects her attempts to be dragged into this legal morass.

Dear @SeattleCouncil,
Do not let your legacy be one that repeats the ugliness of the 18th and 19th century when Asians were similarly demonized and denied basic civil rights—right there in Washington state.