maarmie is Never Outdated

maarmie's back, for now, at least, to bring you a very important update. It seems the term "minority" and to whom it is applied is being questioned and challenged as of late. In today's newspaper, demographers are pondering the notion of the term "minority" as being outdated in today's society.

It seems there are places in this country - Texas, California, New Mexico, Hawaii and Washington, D.C., to be specific - where blacks outnumber whites, and Hispanics (I hate that word) outnumber everyone. Can the term "minority" be applied in these places the same way it has always been?

I say "yes." A conditional "yes."

I used to get annoyed, and still sometimes do, when women are referred to as "minorities." After all, we make up 52 percent of the population, so, clearly, we're in the majority. However, the balance of power in this world has some power in deciding what constitutes a majority and what constitutes a minority, in my opinion.

When I lived in NYC, I saw a want ad in the newspaper proclaiming at the bottom that women and other minorities were encouraged to apply. I was livid. I called the phone number to explain to the HR director that there are more women than men. However, taking into account the unequal hiring practices and pay rate decisions that are still alive and well in 2005, women are a group that needs special protection under the law as are blacks, gays, lesbians, disabled people and individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Where there is power, there continues to be older, white males. All others are minorities and should be protected as such until the balance of power has shifted.