I heard a lecture on this subject at my university the other day. The gist of the history I heard was.. when the Maoists were making inroads in China, they promised the approximately 450 ethnic groups that existed at the time that they would be granted autonomy if they supported the communists. So they did, but weren't granted autonomy.. then the groups were permitted to apply to be recognized as 'official' ethnic groups. About 300 applied but only 12 or so were approved. Eventually over the years more were added, with the last added in the 1970s I think.
So there are many groups that continue to fight for recognition but are bunched in with other groups that they do not share dialect or other forms of culture with..
No one has the corner on oppression though. We can all be oppressors or those oppressed. For example people forget that before being a Buddhist nation, Tibet was a culture of warlords that devastated other nations. I agree with secret asian guy, guilt is an easy emotion that feeds our inflated sense of our own importance in the world.
So there are many groups that continue to fight for recognition but are bunched in with other groups that they do not share dialect or other forms of culture with..
No one has the corner on oppression though. We can all be oppressors or those oppressed. For example people forget that before being a Buddhist nation, Tibet was a culture of warlords that devastated other nations. I agree with secret asian guy, guilt is an easy emotion that feeds our inflated sense of our own importance in the world.