Social and Economic Marginalization in the United States: Urgent Policy Implications for Societal Solutions for Countries like South Korea

The concept of ‘minorities’ is changing. There are commentators fearing, based on quantitative and numerical data, that ‘Whites,’ with the continued decline in numbers, will become a minority in the United States in the near future. However, minority concepts cannot be considered from numerical analysis alone. Today, especially from the quality of life enjoyed, minorities still must be approached from a qualitative perspective — socio, economic, and gender orientation. This is most apparent from the recent cases pillared on the notion of racism and sexism.

Throughout American history, each of these communities has led revolutions and movements in hopes of expanding their limited rights: African Americans led the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s, women followed through with the Modern Feminist Movement in the 1970s. Both of these marginalized communities still face discrimination and threats to this day despite the efforts they put in to be treated as equals despite their historical efforts, as evident by the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement taking place in the United States. The slogan “Black Lives Matter” merely captures a small portion of the overall mission of the Black Lives Matter organization, as they also fight for the freedom and justice of transgender, women, and homosexuals: the marginalized communities.

It is critical that we address this issue of growing separation and discrimination in the United States because United States serves as a pilot case in our global efforts toward globalized communities. In addition to the issue of justice and human rights, the continued classification and differential treatment based on socio-economic conditions are troubling because it attacks the very essence of democratic principles. Furthermore, this has greater implications for other states around the world as this trend of discriminating people on socio-economic status is intensifying, threatening the very slogan of ‘global community.’ The United States is no longer the only state of multicultural inhabitants. Through Free-Trade and erosion of conventional territorial borders, many countries, including South Korea is facing similar problems — discrimination and threat to social unity based on economic status.

Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine the root causes behind this intensifying social classification and division despite the championing of democratic principles. For this, the research paper will conduct quantitative case studies showing the statistical increase in this type of discrimination, especially pillared on economic differences. Furthermore, it will explore legislative history to address the existence of disparity between theory and reality, examining other contributing factors behind the failure of these legislative actions. Finally, the research will apply these implications to countries like South Korea where the number of foreigners and multicultural families is on a continued increase, especially within the lower 10–20% of the socio-economic population.

We live in a world where democratic principles govern. However, these democratic principles have created a new type of social divide, especially those in economic conditions. This question must be addressed and resolved as more and more countries around the world are now becoming democratic and diverse.