What is a minority group and what are the arguments for and against declaring people with disabilities as being a minority group?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Suggested Response: Minority groups are oppressed by those who belong to the dominant group.
• Against: Dominant groups have used the notion that they oppress groups because of their inherent inferiority. For other minority groups they refute this claim of inferiority, however, men and women with disabilities cannot refute the assertion that they are somehow biologically inferior.
• Disabled people live in conditions "dramatically better" than those in other countries.
• In terms of employment, employers have the right to hire the best qualified person for the job regardless of the disability. Often people with disabilities are not the best qualified due to their disability.
• Most people have some type of disability, great or small, which actually would make a person with disabilities one of the majority,
• For: American social attitudes were a major source of problems for people with disabilities.
• Unemployment and people with disabilities living in poverty has actually increased since the passage of the ADA.
• Having a disability has a significant influence on daily life. Since a disability influences an individual's sense of identity, or others' perceptions of the disability, it has a significant influence on their reactions to the person, including the likelihood of negative attitudes of rejection or even discrimination.
• Identifying people with a disability as a minority group is consistent with other acceptable models for disability because it defines the problems associated with disabilities as stemming from an inappropriate "fit" between the environment and the persons with disabilities and not emanating from the disabled individual.
• Persons with disabilities share certain characteristics with other minority groups such as stigma, social distance, non-acceptance, negative stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.