[Ads-l] Possible Antedating of "Majority Minority"

[Shapiro, Fred]

I am not sure whether the following citation is an antedating of the term Bill Mullins posted about:

1970 Henry v. Clarksdale Mun. Separate Sch. Dist., Federal Reporter 2d 387, 390 (12 Aug.) (LexisNexis)  The sole change of any note as to the elementary schools is adoption of a majority-minority transfer policy.

NOTE: I am forwarding Bill's posting to the Oxford Dictionary of African American English project.

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, August 1, 2026 5:23 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: majority-minority district

Not in OED.

Fred, perhaps this is appropriate for the African American OED project?



1971 Corpus Christi Caller-Times 23 Sep B1/6

Establishment of a special school bus run from Travis to Sanders Elementary School for students who have transferred under the "majority-minority" school district policy.

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1978 Houston Post 23 Jan 1/3

We see the 50 percent cutoff as an incentive to majority-minority districts like Houston to cooperate with primarily Anglo districts in join magnet school programs.

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1992 Columbus Call & Post 13 Feb 4/3

According to Appeals Court Judge John Peck, Tilling’s public statement that the Apportionment Board was “under a mandate that wherever a majority-minority district can be created, that must be done,” was incorrect.

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1994 Lani Guinier The Tyranny of the Majority 84

This is a problem where a so-called majority-minority district lacks a majority of minority registered voters.

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2001 C. Barbour, G. C. Wright _Power and Citizenship in American Politics_ G-6/2

majority-minority district   legislative district drawn so that a majority of its voters belong to a racial or ethnic minority

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2005 Journal of Teacher Education v56 n2 Mar/Apr 138/2

The district is 58% Latino, is the only majority/minority district, and is the only urban district in the state.

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