Not “Minority” but “Minoritized”

Abstract

Rather than referring to “minorities,” “members of minority groups” or “underrepresented minorities,” we should refer to such individuals as “minoritized.” Using “minoritized” makes it clear that being minoritized is about power and equity not numbers, connects racial oppression to the oppression of women, and gives us an easy way to conceive of intersectionality as being a minoritized member of a minoritized group. The term “minoritized” reveals the fact that white males and other dominant groups minoritize members of subordinated groups rather than obscuring this agency, describes microaggressions better than the term ‘microaggressions,’ and helps explain the need for solidarity within minoritized groups. It gives us a powerful way to promote racial justice by appealing to the common experience of being excluded. While using “minoritized” risks creating a false equivalence that sees all instances of being minoritized as equal and discounting unique forms of oppression by subsuming them under a single term, using this term carefully can ensure that its advantages outweigh these risks.

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“…The word stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I was a minority (or, I had been minoritized; see Wingrove-Haugland & McLeod, 2021). I had never thought of the term beyond the confines of race.…”

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“…1. In this paper, the term “minoritized” is used with intention, naming the ways in which systemic power, privilege and dominance oppressively push some groups to the margins making them subordinate in status to more dominant, normative and/or valued ones such as what happens to BIPOC (Wingrove-Haugland and McLeod, 2021). …”

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“…8 Choosing alternative language, such as marginalized or minoritized, acknowledges the existing oppression of minoritized groups and may reinforce the understanding that "minority" status is a social construct that does not reflect personal characteristics. 8,9…”

“…Rather than referring to “minorities,” we choose to use the term racial and ethnic marginalized communities , unless citing from literature that specifically refers to these individuals as “minorities.” With the growing diversity of communities, minority may not be an accurate term for non‐White racial and ethnic groups. Language matters, and referring to marginalized communities as minorities may limit the recognition of the systemic inequalities that lead to this marginalized status 8 . Choosing alternative language, such as marginalized or minoritized , acknowledges the existing oppression of minoritized groups and may reinforce the understanding that “minority” status is a social construct that does not reflect personal characteristics 8,9 …”

“…Language matters, and referring to marginalized communities as minorities may limit the recognition of the systemic inequalities that lead to this marginalized status 8 . Choosing alternative language, such as marginalized or minoritized , acknowledges the existing oppression of minoritized groups and may reinforce the understanding that “minority” status is a social construct that does not reflect personal characteristics 8,9 …”