Visible minority
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A visible minority is an individual, or a population composed of individuals, who are visibly different from the culturally-assumed default.
United States
In the United States, the cultural default is white, heterosexual, cisgendered, fully-abled, and Christian (and to some extent male, even though females are a slight majority). Visible minorities in the US, then, include:
- visibly disabled people (e.g. in wheelchairs, using guide-dog)
- black, hispanic, and other nonwhite "races"
- Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews who adhere to certain practices involving "unusual" clothing (e.g. burkhas, turbans, yarmulkes)
- people whose behavior or clothing is interpreted as homosexual (whether or not the person actually is)
- people who are interpreted as transgender, especially those presenting as female