Disempowering Minorities:
A Critique of Wilkinson’s ‘Task for Social Scientists and Practitioners’"

I assess Wilkinson’s (2000) injunction that practitioners "omit entirely the ‘minority’ concept." I maintain that Wilkinson’s argument disempowers groups — such as gays and the disabled — who have used a "minority" identity effectively, and speciously indicates that African-Americans would benefit from such retrenchment, thereby implying that social justice is a zero-sum game. Rather, "minority" coalitions are effectively pursuing justice for all. Moreover, the theoretical basis of Wilkinson’s deconstruction of "minority" conveniently ignores the socially constructed character of "race" and "ethnicity," and conflates conceptual breadth with conceptual vagueness. I suggest that practitioners learn more about these concepts and honor clients who self-identify as "minority" group members, lest they become alienated from them.