The term minority rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups. A right is the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or a thing to which one has a just claim. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... A sexual minority—the term is most commonly used in the plural, sexual minorities— is a group whose sexual orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. ... The term collective rights refers to the putative rights of peoples to be protected from attacks on their group identity and group interests. ...

Civil rights movements often seek to ensure that individual rights are not denied on the basis of membership in a minority group. Historically, the Civil Rights Movement was a concentrated period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1960-1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. ...

There are many political bodies which also feature minority group rights. This might be seen in affirmative action quotas, or in guaranteed minority representation in a consociational state. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Political scientists define a consociational state as a state which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, yet nonetheless manages to remain stable, due to consultation among the elites of each of its major social groups. ...

• Human rights