A man in Africa grew up in a country where has been raised to believe — through social traditions, tribal rules, and everyday practice — that members of his tribe are inferior to and dependent on a dominant tribe. The man believes that he is no less a human being than members of the dominant tribe and that he deserves to live free of fear. He joins a dissident group and hands out pamphlets advocating equality. Shortly thereafter, a group of thugs who are members of the dominant tribe beat him and threaten to kill him. "You seem to think that you are in a position to defy us," they say. "You seem to think that you are equal to us. We shall remind you of your place in this society." The beatings and threats continue and the man eventually seeks help from the police. The police, most of whom are members of the dominant tribe, are unwilling to help. "You are in a bad situation but we cannot do anything to interfere. Our laws and our culture prohibit it. Just keep your mouth shut from now on and try to avoid these people." Other members of the man's tribe are intimidated upon seeing how their fellow tribe member has been treated for his behavior, and some of them stop their dissident activities.
After another particularly bad beating, the man finally escapes. He makes his way to the United States and applies for asylum on the basis of two grounds: (1) his political opinion opposing the domination of the elite tribe; and (2) his membership in the particular social group of the subjugated tribe.