Why I Don’t Use the Term “Minority”

I prefer the term “marginalized” to “minority” when talking about my identity and that of others, for two reasons:

1. “Minority” is not accurate in many contexts. Globally, for example, White people are statistically speaking a minority. In certain communities within the U.S., there are areas where White people are a minority. It is not because of a demographic majority that certain identities are dominant over others (see: Apartheid), and using the term “minority” reinforces that perception that we are primarily concerned with numbers.

2. “Minority” elides and obscures responsibility. The words makes it seem as if all we’re concerned with is a natural, or accidental, discrepancy of populations rather than systemically problematic activities of othering, erasing, and marginalizing. Referring to “marginalized people” re-centers the focus on acts that we have control over, rather than on demographics.