Reminder that at times using the words 'minority' or 'minorities' to describe demographics that are subject to systematic bigotry and the inequality/lack of resources/widespread misinformation that comes alongside it can lead people to believe that to some degree the harms done are just an inherent thing that will always happen to a group that makes up only X percent of the population. Even people who know purposeful harms are being done are likely to subconsciously assign some part of the blame for the situation to inescapable ignorance by the masses because of the size of the group effected.

I’m not saying the word minority is not often accurate in these situations or that there aren’t any contexts where it is the best word to choose, but in many contexts it is meaningful to use language that reiterates that people with social/political power are purposefully choosing to say/do things and create societal systems that harm a specific demographic.

The two words I personally feel are the most productive and powerful to use when discussing systematic harm (and also apply if the demographic experiencing these things is numerically not a minority) are:

marginalized (which Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group” and can be used in phrases like ‘marginalized identity/identities’ or ‘marginalized demographic/demographics’)

or

disenfranchised (which Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “deprived of some right, privilege, or immunity” and is often used to refer specifically to being deprived of the right to vote but can describe a situation where any social or political right or privilege is being taken from a demographic)

I say this all as a member of many demographics that are minorities, but more importantly that are being actively and purposefully marginalized and disenfranchised by people who want us to not have any social or political power.

The language we use has the power to highlight the reality of privilege and power in or world or to inadvertently downplay it and allow people to just accept it as the unavoidable status quo.

We need to be as purposeful about the words we choose when explaining harms down to our communities (the people with power trying to keep us down sure as hell are).

#DisenfranchisedIdentities #Disenfranchised #MarginalizedPeople #MarginalizedVoices #Marginalized #Disabled #ChronicallyIll #ActuallyAutistic
#Queer #Trans #Transgender #Nonbinary #Jew #Jewish