MINORITY

a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group living within a larger society. When used to describe such a group, the term carries with it a web of political and social implications. As the term is used by politicians and social scientists, a minority is necessarily subordinate to the dominant group within a society. This subordinancy, rather than a numerical minority, is the chief defining characteristic of a minority group. In certain cases, as in South Africa, where the black population is considered a minority by dint of the dominance of the nation's whites, the minority group may be several times the size of the dominating group. In sociological parlance, a minority must be a distinct social group. As such, it has specific rules of membership and proscribed guidelines of cultural behaviour that distinguish it from the majority. It must have specific, easily recognizable characteristics that mark it off from the rest of society. In their separation from the dominant forces of a society, members of a minority group usually are cut off both from a full involvement in the workings of the society and from an equal share in the society's rewards. A minority group is typically poorer and politically less powerful than the dominant group, although certain exceptions exist. The lack of significant distinguishing characteristics keeps certain groups from being classified as minorities. In modern American society, religion seldom defines a minority. The society as a whole is too secularized for differences in religious practice to be felt that keenly. Similarly, Freemasons, though they subscribe to beliefs different from those of most Western people, lack clear identifying features that would distinguish them, and they cannot be considered a coherent minority. A group assembled for primarily economic reasons is seldom considered a minority unless its activity is linked with unifying principles of kinship, race, or culture. The role of minority groups varies from society to society, depending on the structure of the social system and the relative power of the minority group. In general, the society as a whole has two options when confronted with the presence of a minority group: the minority can be either eliminated or tolerated. A minority group can be eliminated through one of several methods. It can be ejected or suppressed. In the 17th century the dominant Roman Catholics forbade the practice of Protestantism in France. Protestants had the choice of changing religions, practicing Protestantism in secret, or leaving the country. Protestantism as a subculture was thus effectively eradicated. An extreme example of the suppression of minorities is the Nazi extermination of several million Jews. A less violent means of minority elimination is assimilation. In this process the minority assumes the cultural attributes of the dominant majority. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the United States saw an influx of European immigrants. Rather than allowing them to maintain their original cultural characteristics, the dominant English-speaking, Protestant majority indoctrinated the immigrants in the prevailing culture. The immigrant groups adopted the dominant language and ideology. As a result, they did not establish autonomous social groups but rather became assimilated into American society. Assimilation is seldom a process of pure elimination. In the course of assimilation, the dominant group usually acquires aspects of the minority culture while imposing its own culture. A society that makes a practice of assimilation usually evolves in the process, and the dominant culture becomes increasingly eclectic. When a minority group is allowed to exist within the context of a larger society, the resulting social system is called pluralistic. The dominant forces in a pluralistic society opt to tolerate minorities for one of two reasons. The dominant majority may see no reason to rid themselves of the minority. On the other hand, even if the minority is disliked, there may be political, ideological, or moral impediments to a process of elimination. The commercial trade of certain European countries in the 12th and 13th centuries depended on Jewish merchants. This made it impossible, or at least suicidal, for the anti-Semitic rulers to drive the Jews out. Another example of toleration coerced from an unwilling dominant group can be seen in Britain in the 20 years following 1950, which saw an influx of immigrants from the Caribbean, Pakistan, and India. Many British did not like these new minority groups, but the nation's prevailing democratic ideology prevented any move to eject them. The structure of the society as a whole affects the role that minority groups play in it. By definition, minority groups are ranked somewhere below the top rung of the social hierarchy. The degree of social mobility of a member of a minority group depends on whether the society in which he lives is closed or open. A closed society is one in which an individual's role and function can theoretically never be changede.g., the traditional Hindu caste system. An open society, on the other hand, allows the individual to change his role, with corresponding changes in status. Unlike a closed society, which stresses hierarchical cooperation between social groups, an open society permits different social groups to vie for the same resources, so that their relations are competitive. In an open society the ranking of an individual according to his social group has less weight than the rank that the individual attains for himself. Such a situation can be seen in the United Statesan open society that allows the individual social mobility. Sociologists have suggested that part of the difficulty encountered by black people in being absorbed into American society has arisen because, unlike other groups, they are uniquely regarded as an autonomous social group. This stereotyped view, a holdover from notions of a closed society, has caused black people to be segregated from a society that is primarily open and devoid of such autonomous groups. The difficulties encountered by blacks in the United States can be seen as typical of the problems that minorities face in modern Western society.