Phrase to describe the phenomenon of a minority group that becomes the majority but keeps its minority mindset?

Solution 1:

Try: putting the bottom rail on top - reversing the hierarchy; putting the formerly lowest sector above the formerly highest sector.

Solution 2:

I think, especially given your first example of Christians, that it is more about a minority becoming the majority rather than becoming more powerful than the group it contrasts. Also the definition of being a minority implies less power: Ultimately, however, the terms majority and minority describe power differences. The critical feature of the minority group's status is its inferior social position, in which its interests are not effectively represented in the political, economic, and social institutions of the society (Eitzen et al., 2011:209).http://dmc122011.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/problems/chap-08.htm

Solution 3:

The minority group, although now in the majority, remains insecure, or has an inferiority complex with respect to the formerly dominant group.

Insecure, at Dictionary.com:

subject to fears, doubts, etc.; not self-confident or assured.

inferiority complex, Wikipedia:

An inferiority complex is a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feelings of not measuring up to standards. It is often subconscious.

An example is the extreme Anglophilia of some people in the United States. (There is much to admire about Great Britain.) Although the US gained its independence from Great Britain more than 200 years ago, and became richer and more powerful than Great Britain, there are people in the US (some of them descendants of the people who fought in the Revolutionary War) who regard all things British as superior and to be emulated.

On an individual level, the insecurity of people who have become successful is illustrated by an article in Science Magagine, Coping with Class in Science, by Curtis D. Holder, Chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

I grew up in rural North Carolina, in a single-parent, poor, working-class family living in a singlewide mobile home. Writing that sentence takes courage after 30 years of denial, guilt, and feeling like an outsider in academia.

Even after rising to the pinnacle of academic success, Prof. Holder did not speak out about his working-class background until recently.

Now, I regret not having spoken out more about my working-class background. Over the last few years, I have become determined to do what I can to bring the issues of social class in the university out of the dark.

The story of this professor illustrates how an entire group could still feel insecure after achieving dominance.