Who exactly is the "majority" as opposed to "Minority" in the "United States of

1. 52

   Tien Kaiposted 15 years ago

   Who exactly is the "majority" as opposed to "Minority" in the "United States of America?"
   
   I am considered a "minority" as a "black" person - but why? I though that America was a pluarlistic society where all people are "equal." Does not the term "majority" mean that there is a "greater" value placed on that designation as a social "category." And, if it does, what does that really mean specifically? I mean the mathematical statement that 2>1 does not seem to be equal; 2 is the majority - right?

   report
2. 71

   petsnakesposted 15 years ago

   It speaks strictly in the sense of numbers not in a man's ability to do something. It has nothing to do with the concept of one group of people being better than another. It's like having 3 eggs and 2 apples. The majority of my food items are eggs, not apples.
   
   As a single race, whites of European descent are the majority. If you begin to combine other races together and exclude white Europeans that combination of races becomes the majority.

   report
3. 0

   Madame Xposted 15 years ago

   The majority has nothing to do with race but with the group that votes together on an issue or candidate. For example, the "majority" voted for Obama and the minority did not.

   report
4. 48

   theblindinsiderposted 15 years ago

   The term majority simply refers to ones ability to emphasize power and strength on another being.  Regardless of this fact, a group or individual may possess the required power and or strength to autocratically impress an opinion on another.
   
   Sadly, the entire democratic way of life in the United States for example audaciously classifies itself is a majority yet the only majority in this term is the fact that manipulation overrules this simple and at times ineffective theory.
   
   With this said the only majority as a social medium is the fact that we are all equal in terms of being able to form our opinions, live our lifestyles within a set policy, and participate in our own convictions to affirm beliefs.  The greatest distance between those who challenge the social norm is coming to terms of a greater expectation within each of us.

   report
5. 60

   Matt Libbyposted 15 years ago

   Majority is a measure of quantity and not quality.  In one way you somewhat answered your own question.  Using the number example 2 >1 would not be the same as pizza > ice cream.  The two can not be measured that way.  Any non-white citizen of the  U.S. is considered a minority because there are more white people than any other ethnic group.  It does not mean or imply that any group is better than the other.
   
   When speaking politically the majority refers to the party that has more elected officials.  Many times one party might have the majority in the Senate but the other party have the majority in the House of Representatives.  Many times one of the things that has kept the balance in the U.S. it that the 2 Legislative Divisions and the Executive (President) have not all been the same party.

   report
6. 74

   someonewhoknowsposted 15 years ago

   The word "minority" can have a double meaning.
   
   1.numerical
   2.racial
   
   In a certain situation it could be both.
   
   We do have a mixed society,but the soiety as a whole,such a country or city or can have a slight majority or a major majorityin pockets just as history has shown ,people of the same racial backround usually live close to each other at least for a generation.Then a percentage may marry outside their race or culture or move to somewhere where they are the minority.
   
   I could be considered in the minority where I live by virtue of the fact that I'm white living in a community where the majority of people are black.

   report
7. 52

   Tien Kaiposted 15 years ago

   O.k., I'm getting the message here somewhat, that I may be a "minority" in contradistinction to "white people" being the "majority," but that in-and-of-itself does not mean that "white people" practice inequality by virtue of them being the "majority."
   
   That is very interesting. The equation 2 > 1 is quite approximate to: majority > minority. This "greater than" attribute that is fundamentally intrinsic  to the "majority" social-political disposition cannot be viewed as that which inherently represents "equality." And why should it.
   
   What is it precisely that "historically" one can point too - to at least demonstrate that "white people" do not act as the majority, unequally, to minorities? Take for example the very language that "Americans" speak. How is "English" a reflection of a minority cultural equality?
   
   I don't think that some of the answers have been well thought out in terms of just plain common-sense. And I think that there is a peculiar tendency for the majority to dispense information that blurrs their majority disposition that attemps to show that it is inherently unequal - categorically.
   
   I had an uncle who was a very dedicated black police officer in a very large -super large, midwestern metropolis. He died in the line of fire, and at his funeral, city police officers saluted his burial by wearing kilts and playing bagpipes. I'm no rocket scientist, but I am certain that that behavior and ritual was  uniquely based on a majority ethnic disposition that was quite deliberately done and seen as "normal."
   
   Now, lets take the flip side of this. There is now a black president of the United States. Surprisingly, it is lost on people that his black ethnicity is irrelevant to his position culturally, but, not in the way it must actually be viewed. In other words, the United States is not a plurality-descendent nationally soveriegn entity, but, a "European" descendent "majority" creation. That's just the reality of it. This reality is overwhelmingly real - right down to the money that we spend.
   
   The majority is always going to do things that are not equal to the minority's disposition. I would just like to hear one person besides George Carlin (rest his soul) and Michael Moore in common life who is not a minority be honest about this reality. So we can open some real dialogue that will allow us to evolve greater realization of our relationships to each other on this earth.

   report