being african american and female, i always get the label "minority." i hate labels, especially this one. it is almost always interpreted as black or african american. technically minority refers to anyone who is not white or caucasion. this includes, african americans, asian americans, mexican americans, cuban americans ... and the list goes on. minority is also used with respect to affirmative action (which is another can of worms) and people seem to always forget that affirmative action helps white women more than any other "minority" group. lest we forget women are labeled minorities too.
when you add up all the "minorities," the majority is a small number of white men. so wouldn't minority = physical majority? yes. so, what does minority really mean? i think the subcontext of the word is "minority in power" thus making white males the majority group in power, which is why i hate the word. we, as a society, can't invoke change and diversity until this word is obsolete. — just something i was thinking about today. and i can ramble because it's my blog.
when you add up all the "minorities," the majority is a small number of white men. so wouldn't minority = physical majority? yes. so, what does minority really mean? i think the subcontext of the word is "minority in power" thus making white males the majority group in power, which is why i hate the word. we, as a society, can't invoke change and diversity until this word is obsolete. — just something i was thinking about today. and i can ramble because it's my blog.
5 lovely comments:
Melissa said...
Alright, is this stuff for your thesis?
p.p. said...
If I remember correctly, some communities in the northeast (and, great lakes) have banned the classification of "minority." I think it's a good idea.
When speaking to my friends in Canada, they told me that they don't recall ever filling out a form that asked for a race classification (not that "minority" is a race class).
Dennis! said...
Not disagreeing with what you'd said, just as a spot of reference: In sociological terms, the word "minority" doesn't actually mean a group that has fewer members. It means a group that's politically and socially deprived of power, or on the lower end of the power scale.
melyssa said...
very interesting dennis! that is actually the conclusion i came to in my post, which is why i think the word is so wrong. cause why do that many people not have power (or have less power)?
melyssa said...
no melissa, this is not for my thesis. just some things going around in my head. there's lots of space up there ya know?! :-)