Minority Group

In the discussion of social equality, the concept of minority group refers not to a numerical minority but to a group's distance from the center of power. For example, under apartheid in South Africa, Blacks were a numerical majority but were the nation's power minority group, while Whites were the numerical minority but the power majority. In the United States, people of color are the minority in both senses of the term, although demographic predictions suggest that they will comprise the numerical majority by the middle of the 21st century. As David Gillborn explains, the minor–major relationship is based on access to power in all of its manifestations. From social honor to socioeconomic status, minority groups experience various types of inequality in various combinations. For ...