I came across this old article about the Hindu caste system - a really backward, discriminating system, which has a lot in common with racism, and apparently its alive and kicking here in the West, imported by the brahmins and rajputs when they migrated here from India.

Unfortunately, something akin to the caste system exists amongst some Pakistani Muslims in the West too. Most often you hear about it in the context of the father of a girl refusing to allow his daughter to marry a certain brother because he comes from a "lower-status" family.

I remember speaking to a guy several years ago about this whole family status thing, and he told me that he was a Rajput, and that he would never allow his daughter to marry someone from a different social level and that this was not in contradiction to any of the teachings of Islam. And, this was a man who sat on the committee of our local mosque!

Just in case you're wondering... no, i wasn't interested in marrying his daughter :)

Thankfully my own parents were never into this whole caste/family thing, despite both coming from "high-class" families from back home, and thats good, because not only does it show good sense, but these traditions don't really mean anything here in the West. The second and especially third generation of desis here have generally embraced the idea of the equality of human beings and pour scorn on the whole idea of caste and "zaat" and it is no longer rare to see a desi man or woman in a relationship with someone who is non-desi. In another generation or two, i bet this whole system will have died out here.