There is a third alternative. Community leaders and spokespeople may never share their stories or constructs outside their immediate community. This strategy is readily apparent in the ethic ghettos that still exist in many North American cities and in the distinctive languages (e.g. “Ebonics”) that are created in these ghettos and minimally used outside the ghettos.
We see this strategy used in communities that are isolated, not because of prejudice and discrimination, but because citizens purposively choose to live in life style enclaves. Retirement communities and condo complexes for affluent, unattached and youthful adults exemplify residential enclaves, whereas weekend sport car rallies and ballroom dancing clubs offer periodically convened enclaves. In each case, distinctive narratives (often filled with jargon, oblique references, abbreviations and nicknames) are created, sustained and kept from public view or scrutiny.
A fourth alternative can also be added to the mix. The minority narrative or construct becomes a source of conflict or even revolution. We see this strategy being manifest in the multiple efforts to bring minority studies into collegiate curricula and in the efforts to legitimize the teaching of “minority” languages (such as Spanish and Ebonics) in our school systems. In these cases, advocates are asking for equal treatment: “our narrative is just as valid and important as the majority narrative.”
In other cases, the minority wants their narrative to replace or at least supersede the majority narrative. Members of the minority group proselytize and recruit other people to their new social construction. This strategy is abundantly evident in the rise of evangelical churches in North America and Islamic fundamentalism throughout the world. It is particularly evident today in the efforts of many conservative Christians to bring the creationist narrative of “intelligent design” into our school systems as a counter to the Darwinian narrative of “natural selection.”
