A Philosophical Discussion on Minorities

The United States Government has, for a very long time maintained an affixation on the issue of minorities. Throughout the long night of slavery in the United States of America, and the continued disenfranchisement of the black race following their emancipation, we as a people, and certainly our Government has evaded the guiding principle that could have avoided it all.  That principal is known as the Nature and Origin of Rights. I have covered this concept in a prior discussion and it my be of useful reference for the current topic.

Random House Webster’s American Dictionary defines  minority as such; 1) a number or part forming less than half of a whole, 2) a group differing from the majority, as in race, 3) the state or time of being under legal age. For the purpose of this discussion we shall concern ourselves only with number two as it is this definition with which defines the subject of this discussion.

If we look at the concept of a minority in a purely numerical context with respect to people, it is obvious the smallest minority in existence is a single person. However as we exist on this earth in groups called nations, there exist within the various groups  or nations differences,  these differences being of race, language, culture, national origin, as well as a multitude of  varying belief systems.

Because people live not individually, but rather in large numbers, they focus their philosophy of how one should live within the context of the larger group. As cultures and societies became nations over time, they tended to fall into a philosophy formed by what can be called “Groupthink”. 

Even before the United States of America became a nation it developed different norms by region. Proponents of each of the varying regional “norms” naturally attempt to exert influences on those within society to accept the viewpoint of the majority at that time in history. While this is in part proper, and essential to the formation of a governing set of principals, it can pose ethical questions and subsequent problems if not resolved in a philosophical and ethical manner.  As we shall see, societies and nations, including the United States have failed to effectively resolve the problem of minorities.

Recognizing the smallest minority is one, and knowing that each individual has rights simply because he exists and that all rights are universal, (see the Nature and Origin of Rights) one can see the simplicity, and ethical morality of respecting the rights of others as well as their own individual rights. In as much as each individual has rights to liberty and self determination, they also have a corresponding responsibility and obligation to not only respects the rights all of humankind posses, but to preserve and defend them as well.                             

If men and women lived their life by these standards there would be no concern for minorities in the sense I am discussing here. For if each person lived by, and fully understood the Nature and Origin of Rights they would see themselves as one with all of humanity. There would be no disparate treatment of any particular race or culture

The politics and practices of the United States of America, (as well as almost all Governments of the world), have been responsible for encouraging the concept of minorities within their culture because they intentionally focus on, and point out differences. This is true whether the difference is race, language, national origin, or cultural.

With respect to the United States Government (and politicians), it encourages the recognition of racial and cultural differences.  The purpose is a cynical move to gain loyalty from minority group for the purpose of extending political favor to them based on their minority status. The reason is to gain favor with the minority group, or groups, in pursuit of insuring their own re-election to power.

This is the most cynical and immoral aspect of the whole issue of minorities. When a political system grants preferential treatment to any minority group the system is in essence saying the minority is incapable of doing for themselves that with the majority can do for them. In other words they are inferior. This is not only false; it is both condescending and immoral.

A final aspect of the focus on minority groups is the troubling position held by some that somehow the current generation (those of the majority) bear responsibility for the immorality of past generations. That somehow the current generation is responsible for righting the wrongs of past generations. This is akin to convicting a person for a murder that was committed before their birth on the evidence that the person charged with committing the murder was part of the family tree. This concept is as unethical and immoral as is the notion this generation bears responsibility for the sins of past generations.

Until such time as the United States Government understands the Nature and Origins of Rights, the issue of “minority rights” and racial and ethnic unrest will continue to be profligate throughout our society.