Comparison of Dalit movements in India with civil rights struggles in the USA

Abstract

The Dalit movements in India and the Civil Rights struggles in the USA represent two powerful histories of resistance against systemic oppression, rooted respectively in caste and race. Both emerged from centuries of exclusion—Dalits facing untouchability, social ostracism, and denial of education, while African Americans endured slavery, segregation, and disenfranchisement. Leaders such as B.R. Ambedkar and Martin Luther King Jr. provided ideological foundations, emphasizing law, education, and collective mobilization as tools for social transformation. While Ambedkar advocated the annihilation of caste and conversion to Buddhism, King championed non-violent protest and constitutional rights, with figures like Malcolm X and the Dalit Panthers adding radical dimensions. Literature, culture, and women’s voices were central in shaping identity and resistance, from Dalit autobiographies to African American writings. Though caste and race differ as axes of inequality, both struggles converge in their pursuit of dignity, equality, and justice, offering enduring lessons for contemporary human rights movements.