It's much easier for one to feel that he or she is disliked because of the group to which they belong than it is for them to accept that the fault lies solely within themselves.

A Parable (also a true story):—

I once knew a man who felt he was being discriminated against. We'll call him Ed. He said was an actor. Yet, he had never had any training as an actor. He had a small part in a high school play once, but since then he had not acted on stage, on television, or in the movies. Not once.

As proof that he was being discriminated against, he often cited the occasion when he auditioned for the part of Othello. Othello was a black man. Ed was a black man. He didn't get the role. The role was given to a white actor, who, of course, would have to wear dark make-up in order to look the part. The white actor, incidentally, had an MA in dramatic arts, with considerable additional training, and he had acted in several plays, including Shakespeare.

This was not the only reason he felt discriminated against, but it was something fairly specific that he could point to, which he did repeatedly. In life, he had cast himself in the role of "The Victim."

I was sitting in a restaurant in the University District one day, and in the booth next to mine sat Ed and a young black woman. He was regaling her with his usual litany of affronts to which he had been subjected. It began to verge on whining. At length, the young woman slid out of the booth and stood over him with her hands on her hips and said, "Ed, people don't dislike you because you're black. They dislike you because you are a complete jerk!"

She turned on her heel and walked out of the restaurant.

Submitted for your contemplation.

Don Firth