Am I a visible minority?

[Deleted member]

In Canada there's a term that describes the non-white populace: visible minority.

I'm 6' 5". I stand out in a crowd. More so, in fact, than an asian dude hanging with some white friends.

So, while Wiki says it's about skin colour, we can be sure that it is fallible. The term "visible minority" implies certain disadvantages, when really, the term includes people of both advantaged and "disadvantaged" racial backgrounds, whatever the hell that means.

So because the term is already flawed, it should be up for debate. What else constitutes a visible minority? Can I consider myself one? I should think so.

 

[Aorist]

Yeah, see, the important term is not "visible", but "minority". There is a very pertinent wikipedia article for this - HERE. The phrase is:

A sociological minority is not necessarily a numerical minority — it may include any group that is subnormal with respect to a dominant group in terms of social status, education, employment, wealth and political power.

So, yes, as a tall person, you are visible. But you are not significantly discriminated against by social status, employment, education, wealth or political power.

And while there are relatively advantaged or disadvantaged cultures, Caucasian people are easily the most favoured in terms of all of the terms listed in the quote above. So while (and these are examples, I'm not at all sure of the veracity) a Japanese person might be favoured over an Aboriginal person in Australia, Caucasians still are the "dominant group".

 

[Deleted member]

Key word - "may include." A sociological minority could include any trait not in the "norm". The extremely short and the extremely tall are indeed a very small minority.

I live in a short person's world. I'm not exactly complaining - I just hate the term "visible minority", as it gets abused in attempt to gain racial validation. My very existence proves there's a problem with this term.

 

[DoH]

Uh no. The keywords in that sentence are "subnormal with respect to a dominant group"

Being excessively tall doesn't make you "subnormal" because it really doesn't affect you in places outside of shelves and basketball.

PS tall is hot

 

[Aorist]

Key word - "may include." A sociological minority could include any trait not in the "norm". The extremely short and the extremely tall are indeed a very small minority.

I live in a short person's world. I'm not exactly complaining - I just hate the term "visible minority", as it gets abused in attempt to gain racial validation. My very existence proves there's a problem with this term.

The "may" in the phrase meant "is allowed", rather than "could possibly". Like "Yes, Billy, you may watch television today".

 

[Darxmarth23]

The "may" in the phrase meant "is allowed", rather than "could possibly". Like "Yes, Billy, you may watch television today".

Then that word expands the possibilities. It has a "range."