Reflection Essay Psychology Reaction Paper Research

Reflection Essay
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Introduction
In the case of the existentialist attitude, a person is born without any inherent purpose or meaning. Therefore, it’s our job to find essence by making authentic choices and live our lives to the fullest. However, some instances prevent humans from experiencing life to the best of their abilities, such as discrimination or terminal illnesses. Although both of these hindrances significantly affect a person's perception in life, a person should not take another man's life or take their own life as the solution to a problem. For instance, in the documentary about the death of James Byrd Jr. & Matthew Shepard, both were victims of bigotry and hate that led to their murders. Another instance is the assisted suicide of Joan Butterstein because she can no longer contain the pain that she feels in her body. In this paper, I will discuss my personal experience in the online community about bigotry and hate concerning the deaths of Byrd and Shepard, as well as the twisted rationality of assisted suicide of Joan Butterstein.
Personal Experience with Bigotry and Hate
My personal experience with bigotry and hate are related to toxic online communities. In social media, I have experienced being called a supremacist because I did not give my opinion about the hate crimes that are happening. Social media websites became toxic for me because they expect the people to give their opinion or show support towards the minority, otherwise, they will assume that you are supporting the oppressors’ side. During those times, I did not give my opinion because the facts that I know may not be enough to give an objective assessment of the situation; thus, my opinion may contribute to more hate than solve them. Concerning the James Byrd Jr. video, racial prejudice and discrimination are the impetus for Byrd Jr. to be dragged at a back of a pickup truck towards his death. Prejudice and discrimination arise from a lack of understanding of others. If we continue in mindlessly giving our opinion without thinking about the possible consequences, hate and bigotry will just continue, especially when the people keep on generalizing the crime of one person as the whole character of their race.
Other than the mainstream social media websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, other online communities that spread homophobia and racism across the globe. Some of those websites include 9gag.com and eaglesnest88.com. The website 9gag, in particular, is like a regular social media but the content use memes (a satirical humorous content in the image, video, or text format). I usually post some content on that website, but some people in the comment section of my posts keep on commenting on a cartoon of a man having fellatio as a form of homophobic remark towards my post. When you receive a comment like that, the commenter is not saying that you are a homose...