Edited sentence: African Americans are underrepresented in upper-status positions and overrepresented in lower positions due to racial discrimination.Chinese and Indian minorities frequently have formed middleman minorities in societies in Africa and Southeast Asia.Like African Americans, women are also excluded from upper-status positions to sex discrimination.Middlemen often defuse potential class conflicts by becoming the focus of anger and frustration.Minorities often have been used as “middlemen” in society, serving as both links and buffers between the upper and lower classes.Underrepresentation in upper-status positions have improved significantly since the sixties as have minority roles across the labor spectrum as a whole