Post 398: Dominant Group vs Subordinate Group Dynamics

Dominant Group vs Subordinate Group Dynamics

Sociologist Louis Wirth (1945) defined a minority group as “any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” The term minority connotes discrimination, and in its sociological use, the term subordinate group can be used interchangeably with the term minority, while the term dominant group is often substituted for the group that’s in the majority. These definitions correlate to the concept that the dominant group is that which holds the most power in a given society, while subordinate groups are those who lack power compared to the dominant group.

These definitions correlate to the concept that the dominant group is that which holds the most power in a given society, while subordinate groups are those who lack power compared to the dominant group.

In the United States, the dominant group with the most power are European Americans or White Americans. The dominant White group controls the power, makes the laws, and it is the cultural values of the White Americans that shapes the identity of what it is to be American.

Most American law and culture was based on British law and culture, hence America has a very Eurocentric white view of the world.  Therefore, the dominant group in the United States reflects a very western British view of the world. 

The dominant group is the group with all the powers, privileges and status therein. It is the White dominant group that controls the rewards and the value systems of society. White males hold the most power in the US. White males control the law, hold the power, have the most privileges and status in US society.  So, if dominance leads to power, then the non-dominant group leads to a lack of power, lack of privileges and lack of prestige and lack of status.

Non-Dominant groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans (any ethnic group who is not European American) in American lack power, lack status, lack money, and lack privilege.  These non-dominant groups are considered inferior, subhuman, dangerous, violent, lazy, childlike, animalistic, and subhuman compared to the  superior civilized humanity of the White straight males of the dominant group.

“Overall, it appears that because of the dominance of the early Western Europeans to this country and the continued dominance of later generations of whites in the U.S., white Americans have developed an ethno-racial identity that acts as a constant lifeline but remains hidden from their view. By not having to live behind a “veil” of differentness (Du Bois [1903]2011), whites do not understand how the consequences of this identity benefit them and harm others.”

In the United States, privilege is granted to people who have membership in one or more of these social identity groups:

·         White people;

·         Able-bodied people;

·         Heterosexuals;

·         Males;

·         Christians;

·         Middle or owning class people;

·         Middle-aged people;

·         English-speaking people

Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. People in dominant groups often believe that they have earned the privileges that they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them. In fact, privileges are unearned and they are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want those privileges or not, and regardless of their stated intent.

Unlike targets of oppression, people in dominant groups are frequently unaware that they are members of the dominant group due to the privilege of being able to see themselves as persons rather than stereotypes. It is usually the members of the dominant group whose harmful stereotypes of the other ethnic groups that do the most harm, because whatever racist views the dominant group has becomes law and determines how society is run.

It is the subordinate groups that are the target of oppression off of whom the dominant group benefits from legally, financially, socially and psychologically.  Members of the subordinate group are manipulated, exploited, discriminated against by members of the dominant group. Members of the subordinate groups are made to live in inferior substandard places such as the poorer parts of town or near industrial plants or landfills where nobody else wants to live. Members of the subordinate group are not allowed to live in the richer parts of town, and are not allowed to intermingle or be educated near the members of the dominant class. 

 Racism is a system in which one race maintains supremacy over another race through a set of attitudes, behaviors, social structures, and institutional power. Racism is a “system of structured dis-equality where the goods, services, rewards, privileges, and benefits of the society are available to individuals according to their presumed membership in” particular racial groups (Barbara Love, 1994. Understanding Internalized Oppression). A person of any race can have prejudices about people of other races, but only members of the dominant social group can exhibit racism because racism is prejudice plus the institutional power to enforce it. 

As a member of the target subordinate group, I have felt what it is like not to have the same privileges as the dominant white group. For instance, as an Asian American,  I have been looked at as the Model Minority (where people assume I am good at math simply because I am Asian or that I have good grades in math simply because I am Asian, enemy of the country (people assume I may be a spy just because I look Asian just like the Japanese villains in those old World War Two movies), and lately I am the COVID19 virus since the virus originated in Wuhan, China. 

 Many people do not know the difference between an Asian American and an Asian from China. We are all considered the same. As a result, Asian Americans are treated as the Other--as people who do not belong in America and need to go back to Asia even though I was born and raised in the United States.  No matter how many generations an Asian American's family has been in the US, Americans especially white Americans see Asian Americans as foreigners and as not quite American.  I sometimes am made to feel I am not American and do not belong in America.

In order to lessen the effects of racism, discrimination and prejudice against target groups, White Americans need to realize the harmful effect White Privilege has on other ethnic groups. White Americans need to use their White Privilege to become a White ally to combat racists and racism. By welcoming other ethnic groups, white American can then make other ethnic groups feel like they belong in America.  In my next blog post, I will talk about ways in which Americans of all colors can help make all ethnic groups feel less excluded from the American experience.