Explain how race, ethnicity, religion, and gender constitute the basis for minority group status. What are other factors that are used to subordinate groups of people?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The term racial group is reserved for minorities and the corresponding majorities that are socially set apart because of obvious physical differences. In the United States, skin color is one obvious difference. Other societies use skin color as a standard but may have a more elaborate system of classification. The designation of a racial group emphasizes physical differences as opposed to cultural distinctions. In the United States, minority races include Blacks, Native Americans (or American Indians), Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Arab Americans, Filipinos, Hawaiians, and other Asian peoples.
Ethnic minority groups are differentiated from the dominant group on the basis of cultural differences such as language, attitudes toward marriage and parenting, and food habits. Ethnic groups are groups set apart from others because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. Ethnic groups in the United States include a grouping that we call Hispanics or Latinos, which, in turn, include Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latin American residents of the United States.
Association with a religion other than the dominant faith is the third basis for minority-group status. In the United States, Protestants, as a group, outnumber members of all other religions. Roman Catholics form the largest minority religion. Religious minorities include groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Amish, Muslims, and Buddhists. Cults or sects associated with practices such as animal sacrifice, doomsday prophecy, demon worship, or the use of snakes in a ritualistic fashion also constitute religious minorities.
Gender is another attribute that creates dominant and subordinate groups. Males are the social majority; females, although numerous, are relegated to the position of the social minority. Women encounter prejudice and discrimination and are physically distinguishable. Women who are members of racial and ethnic minorities face special challenges to achieving equality. They suffer from greater inequality because they belong to two separate minority groups: a racial or ethnic group plus a subordinate gender group.
Age, disability status, physical appearance, and sexual orientation are among the factors that are used to subordinate groups of people.