“Low self-esteem” refers to the belief that we are less worthy than other people and, therefore, don’t deserve attention, love, or any other life’s rewards and that we deserve to be punished by life in some way. Troy’s experiences and how he was treated differently due to the fact that he was black led him to have low self-esteem, not just on himself but he believes that the entire black community is less than the white community. For example, when he is talking to Cory about sports, he says that a black man has to be twice as good than a white man to even get on the team. This is stated when Troy says, “If they got a white fellow sitting on the bench...you can bet your last dollar he can’t play! The colored guy got to be twice as good before
