In addition to racial discrimination, there is privilege discrimination (on the basis of luck).
This can affect you regardless of race but of course it's likely worse when combined with racial factors.
Privilege discrimination can be quite overwhelming because the media doesn't talk about it and the perpetrators of it don't hold back at all.
Some ways privileged people discriminate against unprivileged/unlucky people (e.g. when competing for a promotion or investment):
- "They are too negative, we need someone charismatic." (In fact, PersonX's exposure to wave after wave of bad luck has made them a critical thinker, a realist, which makes them perfect for the job).
- "I don't like PersonX. They can't build rapport with stakeholders." (Because PersonX's has had real problems in their lives, they cannot relate to the artificial problems which members of the elite class constantly create for themselves).
- "They lack confidence." (In reality, what they lack is overconfidence; they have the ideal level of confidence/doubt to navigate a cut-throat marketplace; overconfidence breeds neglect which can destroy the company).
- "They don't have a track record of success" (Because they were always overlooked and never given a first chance to prove themselves; as a result, they've spent decades optimizing themselves and fixing every tiny flaw and gap in their knowledge and personal character; they are highly optimized and perfect for the job).
There is an inversion of cause an effect in the minds of privileged people which makes them think that they need confident people. In fact, confidence is more a consequence of luck than it is of competence. Nobody likes overconfident people. When you have power, you don't need any confidence; the less, the better. Power earns respect and on its own, it is the best substitute for confidence.