Lumen. Extract from Thomas Jeffersons First Inaugural Address, 4 Mar. Scapegoating is a widespread occurrence among minority groups. History has shown us many examples of the scapegoating of a subordinate group. American sociologist Louis Wirth (1945, p. 347) defined minority groups as a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination. Lindgren-Alves, member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, speaking at the Committee's 67th Session (Summary Record of the 1724th Meeting, 23 August 2005, CERD/C/SR.1724), Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, List of active NGOs of national minorities, "The Concept of Minority for the Study of Culture", "The Struggle for Civil Rights: The Need for, and Impediments to, Political Coalitions among and within Minority Groups", "Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Health The Added Effects of Racism and Discrimination", "Multiple Inequalities, Intersectionality and the European Union", "Handbook of Gender & Work Handbook of gender & work", "National Minorities in the Law of the EC/EU", "The most (and least) culturally diverse countries in the world", "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States", "Targeted Mass Media Interventions Promoting Healthy Behaviours to Reduce Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases in Adult, Ethnic Minorities", "Roma people: 10 ways Europe's biggest minority faces discrimination", "Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning", "Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education", "Sexual and Gender Minority Health: What We Know and What Needs to Be Done", "Another Hindu girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan's Sindh; family stages protest", "Hindu medical student found dead in Pakistan hostel, brother alleges foul play", "Political recognition of Roma People in Spain. [37] Women are often denied access to education, subject to violence, and lack access to the same economic opportunities as men. [29] Major immigrant groups in the United States include Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Cubans, Africans, East Asians, and South Asians. for minorities include Canada, China, Ethiopia, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Croatia, and the United Kingdom. There is inadequate evidence whether mass media targeting ethnic minorities are more effective in changing health behaviors such as smoking cessation, weight reduction, and food habits when compared to mass media intended for the general population. [25], A national minority is a social group within a state that differs from the majority and/or dominant population in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, or religion, but also it also tends to have a close link with a specific territory from which the minority social group originates. [30], Leading up to the Human Rights Act 1998 in the UK, a rise in the awareness relating to how people with disabilities were being treated began. Scapegoating is also the primary reason for hostility towards immigrants. [15] As such, the term historically excluded groups (HEGs) is often similarly used to highlight the role of historical oppression and domination, and how this results in the under-representation of particular groups in various areas of social life. While this idea was mostly put to rest in the later 20th Century, it resurged several times in the past 50 years, including the widely read and cited 1994 book, The Bell Curve. A human race is a grouping of humankind based on shared physical or social qualities that can vary from one society to another. [1] Minority group membership is typically based on differences in observable characteristics or practices, such as: ethnicity (ethnic minority), race (racial minority), religion (religious minority), sexual orientation (sexual minority), or disability. They recognise that they have narrower access to education, health care and other necessary infrastructure. One view[41] is that the application of special rights to minority groups may harm some countries, such as new states in Africa or Latin America not founded on the European nation-state model, since minority recognition may interfere with establishing a national identity. This book uses the Creole society developed in the port city of New Orleans, where a mixed-race culture grew from French and African inhabitants. SuperBrain (MindValley) by Jim Kwik: What you Need to Know! Firstly, members of minority groups have to grapple with the idea of social identity. For example, someone who identifies as Asian American while at home in Houston may not refer to themselves as such when they visit extended family in Japan. International criminal law can protect the rights of racial or ethnic minorities in several ways. Berbrier, M. (2002, June). Their labels for racial groups have connoted regions or skin tones, for example. Neuropsychiatric disorders, sensory impairment, loss of physical mobility, etc., are regarded as causes of disability. [17] All countries contain some degree of racial, ethnic, or linguistic diversity. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/chapter/racial-ethnic-and-minority-groups/, Filed Under: Basic Concepts, Political science, Sociology Dictionary, Sociology Optional. Because of their focus on success, voluntary minorities are more likely to do better in school than other migrating minorities. While several nations worldwide allow their citizens the freedom to practice the religion of their choice without discrimination, there are others such as Myanmar and China that restrict such freedom through cultural bias. The scapegoat theory in psychology refers to the tendency to hold someone else accountable for ones own problems. Most countries of the world have religious minorities. Thus, an individual born into a Brahmin family will own the identity of a Brahmin, whereas one born into a Dalit family will be identified as a Dalit. then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, [33][34], In most societies, numbers of men and women are not equal. Distinguishing Physical or Cultural Traits. The Council of Europe regulates minority rights in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. If they do so, they may not seek to erase their individual ethnicities, but finding the correct description and association can be challenging and depend on context. Sociologist Louis Wirth (1945) defined a minority group as any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination. The term minority connotes discrimination, and in its sociological use, the term subordinate group can be used interchangeably with the term minority group, while the term dominant group is often substituted for the group that represents rulers or is in the majority who can access power and privilege in a given society. [24] For example, Romani people, also known as Gypsies are considered an ethnic minority in Europe. The most typical examples of ethnic/racial minorities would be the aboriginal and tribal populations of previously colonised nations. When applied to sociology, we can see that such scapegoating gives rise to prejudice and discrimination towards the group or person being held accountable. Increasingly during the modern era, the removal of miscegenation laws and a trend toward equal rights and legal protection against racism have steadily reduced the social stigma attached to racial exogamy (exogamy refers to marriage outside a persons core social unit). Educating ourselves about the plight of minorities and the factors that influence such discrimination is the first step to changing the narrative around subordinate groups. In the United States, for instance, it includes but is not limited to Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, African Americans,[27] and in the 1800s, native-born Mexican Americans. [Social Impact]. According to Charles Wagley and Marvin Harris (1958), a minority group is distinguished by five characteristics: (1) unequal treatment and less power over their lives, (2) distinguishing physical or cultural traits like skin color or language, (3) involuntary membership in the group, (4) awareness of subordination, and (5) high rate of in-group marriage. Aboriginal Australians, Native Americans in the United States and the Maoris in New Zealand are a few such indigenous groups that have been given the status of minorities. Individuals who are perceived as exhibiting behaviour characteristic of a particular minority group are accorded the title of a minority. For example, it is generally unacceptable and insulting to refer to Asian people or Native American people with color-based terminology, but it is acceptable to refer to White and Black people in that way. Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics. [6][7] While discrimination may be committed by individuals, it may also occur through structural inequalities, in which rights and opportunities are not equally accessible to all. Additional examples of minority groups might include the LGBTQ community, religious practitioners whose faith is not widely practiced where they live, and people with disabilities. (See the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Adolf Hitler, most famously, is guilty of such action during the 20th century. In some cases, ethnicity is incorrectly used as a synonym for national origin, but those constructions are technically different. While the term race defines individuals using their physical characteristics such as skin colour and facial structure, ethnicity points to a shared heritage, language and even culture. But Vietnam is home to 54 formally recognized ethnic groups. 10 Popular songs about Social Issues, Injustice, Human Rights, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONS: A MOVE TOWARDS ORGANIC SOCIETIES, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) Summary, Lev Vygotskys Socio Cultural theory: Explained with Examples.

Researchers have since provided substantial evidence that refutes a biological-racial basis for intelligence, including the widespread closing of IQ gaps as Black people gained more access to education (Dickens 2006). People with non-normative gender and sexual identities have historically been denied equal rights and protection under the law. For example, consider apartheid in South Africa, in which a numerical majority (the Black inhabitants of the country) were exploited and oppressed by the White minority. He blamed the Jewish population for Germanys social and economic struggles and consequently fuelled an ethnic genocide against the Jews. Unlike in other parts of the country, Creoles of color had greater social, economic, and educational opportunities than most African Americans. Jefferson, T. (1801, March 4). Framework Programme 5 (FP5)", Opinion of the Council of Europe's Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, in particular paragraphs 3743, ECMI European Centre for Minority Issues, From Paris to Cairo: Resistance of the Unacculturated, Minorities at Risk project at the University of Maryland, Eurominority Stateless and national minorities portal, American Psychological Association's Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs, The Protection of Minorities in Europe Minorities ABC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minority_group&oldid=1099421093, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from January 2020, All articles needing additional references, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2016, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 20 July 2022, at 17:52. Others assert that minorities require specific protections to ensure that they are not marginalized: for example, bilingual education may be needed to allow linguistic minorities to fully integrate into the school system and compete equally in society. Golfer Tiger Woods, for instance, has Chinese, Thai, African American, Native American, and Dutch heritage; he jokingly refers to his ethnicity as Cablinasian, a term he coined to combine several of his ethnic backgrounds. Note that being a numerical minority is not a characteristic of being a minority group; sometimes larger groups can be considered minority groups due to their lack of power. For example, a member of a particularly small ethnic group might be forced to check "Other" on a checklist of different backgrounds and so might receive fewer privileges than a member of a more defined group. For example, J.A. Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters. While many of the historical considerations of race have been corrected in favor of more accurate and sensitive descriptions, some of the older terms remain. The creation of new occupational patterns for cultural minorities: the Gypsy Case (20012004). Members of minority groups are generally aware of their subordination in society. It may hamper the integration of the minority into mainstream society, perhaps leading to separatism or supremacism. And, finally, some members of racial groups (or ethnic groups, which are described below) "reclaim" terms previously used to insult them (Rao 2018). Prior to the twentieth century, racial intermarriage (referred to as miscegenation) was extremely rare, and in many places, illegal. However, the terms sexual and gender minority are often not preferred by LGBTQ+ people, as they represent clinical categories rather than individual identity. The various minority groups in a country are often not given equal treatment. In Egypt, a new system of identity cards[32] requires all citizens to state their religionand the only choices are Islam, Christianity, or Judaism (See Egyptian identification card controversy). Minority groups tend to practice endogamy, i.e., to marry within their group/community. The idea of race refers to superficial physical differences that a particular society considers significant, while ethnicity describes shared culture. When such divisions are created, some social groups find themselves in the majority, while others form minorities. And the term "minority groups" describe groups that are subordinate, or that lack power in society regardless of skin color or country of origin. These typically refer to groups that identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community and includes people who identify as transgender, gender non-binary, homosexual, bisexual, etc. In 2020, a number of publications announced that they would begin capitalizing the names of races, though not everyone used the same approach (Seipel 2020). In Canada, some[who?] then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution: Use the information below to generate a citation. Want to cite, share, or modify this book? And as with race, individuals may be identified or self-identify with ethnicities in complex, even contradictory, ways. However, that embrace may depend on people's ages, and may be expressed differently when speaking to different populations (Park 2008). [11] Thus, minority group status is categorical: an individual who exhibits the physical or behavioral characteristics of a given minority group is accorded the status of that group and is subject to the same treatment as other members of that group. (Credit: familymwr/flickr), https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-introduction, https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/11-1-racial-ethnic-and-minority-groups, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Understand the difference between race and ethnicity, Define a minority group (subordinate group), Caucasian or White race: people of European, Middle Eastern, and North African origin, Ethiopian or Black race: people of sub-Saharan Africans origin (sometimes spelled Aethiopian), Malayan or Brown race: people of Southeast Asian origin and Pacific Islanders, Mongolian or Yellow race: people of all East Asian and some Central Asian origin, American or Red race: people of North American origin or American Indians. Scapegoat theory, developed initially from Dollards (1939) Frustration-Aggression theory, suggests that the dominant group will displace its unfocused aggression onto a subordinate group. [10] The definition includes both objective and subjective criteria: membership of a minority group is objectively ascribed by society, based on an individual's physical or behavioral characteristics; it is also subjectively applied by its members, who may use their status as the basis of group identity or solidarity. While this is the trend, it is not yet evident in all aspects of our society. For example, the various ethnic groups and national origins of people from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and adjoining nations, who may share cultural, linguistic, or other values, may group themselves together in a collective identity. Annual Report 20172018. She wishes to apply her education in the domain of social work in the future. Such marginalisation also leads to the deterioration of the physical and mental health of minorities. Many started to believe that they were being denied basic human rights. These words borrowed from Thomas Jeffersons First Inaugural Address (4th March 1801) continue to hold a place of great relevance over two centuries after they were delivered by the third president of the United States of America. Some especially significant or powerful minorities receive comprehensive protection and political representation. In this view, rights for minorities strengthen the nation-building project, as members of minorities see their interests well served, and willingly accept the legitimacy of the nation and their integration (not assimilation) within it. Individuals with multiple ethnic backgrounds are becoming more common. Historically, the concept of race has changed across cultures and eras, and has eventually become less connected with ancestral and familial ties, and more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Introduction to Sociology. As a result, they have been subjected to deplorable institutionalised discrimination, injustice, ill-treatment and horror in their respective states. For example, the blacks in South Africa, during the apartheid, owned the numerical majority in the nation-state; however, they were still subjected to institutionalised racism by the white minority. Sociology Group: Sociology and Other Social Sciences Blog, Learn Sociology and Other Social Sciences. var asau='7158409604';var cid='5209329114';var pid='ca-pub-1264008962686392';var slotId='div-gpt-ad-sociologygroup_com-large-leaderboard-2-0';var ffid=1;var alS=1036%1000;var container=document.getElementById(slotId);container.style.width='100%';var ins=document.createElement('ins');ins.id=slotId+'-asloaded';ins.className='adsbygoogle ezasloaded';ins.dataset.adClient=pid;if(typeof window.adsenseNoUnit=='undefined'){ins.dataset.adSlot=asau;} ), People belonging to religious minorities have a faith that is different from that held by the majority. Research in this school of thought suggests that race is not biologically identifiable and that previous racial categories were based on pseudoscience; they were often used to justify racist practices (Omi and Winant 1994; Graves 2003). In certain societies, women are also considered a minority group despite their numerical strength because of their status as an oppressed group. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-os/chapter/minority-groups/. Mar 22, 2022 OpenStax. The deaf community is often regarded as a linguistic and cultural minority rather than a group with disabilities, and some deaf people do not see themselves as having a disability at all. 3 Main Problems faced by Minorities In India. [30], Though lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people have existed throughout human history, LGBTQ+ rights movements across many western countries led to the recognition of LGBTQ+ people as members of a minority group. [16], The term national minority is often used to discuss minority groups in international and national politics. 1999-2022, Rice University. [19] This often results in variations in language, culture, beliefs, practices, that set some groups apart from the dominant group. ins.dataset.adChannel=cid;if(ffid==2){ins.dataset.fullWidthResponsive='true';}