Minorities in the Ottoman Empire

So on questioning the existence of minorities in the Ottoman empire, one has to consider the definition of the term minority and then see if truly applies to the Ottomans. I had been of the opinion that minorities had existed based on race, religion and social status, but when the question of whether the definition of minority could truly have been applied to the non-Muslims living and working in the empire, i clearly had to change my stance. After all the Jews, Christians and other non-Muslim people, most probably did not consider themselves to be a lesser and abused sector of the empire. They lived and worked like everyone else, with opportunities for advancement and privileges that would have defied the term "minority". Their taxes may have been different or some such responsibilities, but this enabled them to be excused from paying all the other taxes that Muslims were obligated to pay. If anything, this class taught me to question how i would apply when talking in a historical context. Not only has the meaning of the terms evolved with time and events, but they may not even capture the true meaning of the state of events in history.