Middleman minority
A middleman minority is a minority population whose main occupations link producers and consumers: traders, money-lenders, etc. A middleman minority, while possibly suffering discrimination and bullying, does not hold an "extreme subordinate" status in society. The "middleman minority" concept was developed by sociologists Hubert Blalock and Edna Bonacich starting in the 1960s but is also used by political scientists and economists. This idea was further developed by American economist Thomas Sowell. Overview There are numerous examples of such groups gaining eventual prosperity in their adopted country despite discrimination. Often, they will take on roles between producer and consumer, such as trading and moneylending. Famous examples such as Jews throughout Europe even at times when discrimination against them was high, Chinese throughout Southeast Asia and North America, Muslims and Parsis in India, Igbos in Nigeria, Indians in East Africa, Lebanese in West Africa, and many others. Middleman minorities usually provide an economic benefit to communities and nations and often start new industries. However, their economic aptitude, financial success and clannishness, combined with social prejudices by other groups against businesses and moneylending, can cause resentment among the native population of a country. Middleman minorities can be victims of racist violence, terrorists, bullying, genocide, racialist policy, or other forms of repression. Other ethnic groups often accuse them of plotting conspiracies against their nation or of stealing wealth from the native population. Examples In Africa Indians in East Africa Igbos in Nigeria Syrians in West Africa In North America Chinese Americans Japanese Americans Korean Americans Greek Americans Lebanese Americans In South America Japanese in South America Lebanese in South America The majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries Middle Eastern immigrants to Brazil (Lebanese, Syrians, etc., collectively called "arabes" or "turcos", the latter term because they came from the Ottoman Empire) were peddlers, merchants and other types of non-"producers". In West Asia Ottoman Greeks Arab Christians in the Arab world Hadhramis Armenian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire Armenians in Baku during the Russian Empire Persian Armenians in Safavid dynasty Armenian Americans Azerbaijani Azerbaijanis during the Imperial era of Iran (16th–20th centuries) Azerbaijanis in the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire Azerbaijanis in contemporary Iran Azerbaijanis in contemporary Russia Jewish American Jews European Jews Ottoman Jews Radhanite Jews Elsewhere Chinese in Southeast Asia Chinese and Vietnamese in Russia and Eastern Europe since the fall of Communism and collapse of the Soviet Union Parsis in India, although having prospered, have done so under active patronisation of Indian rulers and have not been discriminated against because of their race. See also Colonialism, particularly exploitation colonialism and plantation colonies Dominant minority Market-dominant minority Minoritarianism Model minority Neocolonialism World on Fire (book) Yuri Slezkine's book The Jewish Century (2004) discussed the concept of "Mercurian" people "specializ[ing] exclusively in providing services to the surrounding food-producing societies," which are characterized as "Apollonians" References Further reading Silverman, Robert Mark. 2000. Doing Business in Minority Markets: Black and Korean Entrepreneurs in Chicago’s Ethnic Beauty Aids Industry. New York: Garland Publishing. Pál