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A minority in the sense used here is not just any small group, because many very small groups of people like musical child prodigies or mathematical geniuses are not called minorities. On the other hand, some very large groups, indeed, even statistical majorities - like the black citizens of South Africa under apartheid and women in many countries all over the world - have occasionally claimed the status of minorities for themselves.
It seems, therefore, that the defining element in the concept of a social minority is a social or political imbalance, an imposed disadvantage, a negative discrimination, a lack of power. However, as long as the lack of power is total, no minority can constitute itself. The oppressed individuals remain isolated, and if they attract attention, they are picked out one by one and accused of disturbing the social peace. They can form a minority only when they make common cause with others, present themselves to the public as a group, and thus become a social force, at least potentially. In other words:
Minorities are groups of oppressed individuals who, on the basis of some common interest, have developed some solidarity with each other and thus have gained a certain power, even if it still remains largely symbolic. Limited as this initial power may be, it nevertheless allows them and others to demand an end to their oppression.
In short: The self-identification as a minority is the first step on the way to recognition by the majority, even if that recognition consists of nothing but new insults and further attacks. We are dealing therefore with a paradox: The oppressed need at least a little power in order to demonstrate their unjustified lack of power. However, their ultimate goal - and this is a second paradox - is to join a more tolerant majority as “normal” citizens and thus to lose their minority status. Even so, they may still cultivate their “minority culture”, because it is then generally perceived as non-threatening and folkloristic.
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