1921 Tulsa
“If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
soon the whole world will be blind and toothless”
~ Mahatma Gandhi, (October 2, 1869 –
January 30, 1948)
Directions:
Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs,
and a conclusion. Use evidence from the document(s) and media in the body of
the essay. When writing a DBQ, it is best to devote one paragraph for each
document and be sure to identify the document at the beginning of each
paragraph. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details.
Include additional outside information and related concept words.(empathy, change,
choice)
Task:
Near
the ending of the film, The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story a leader of the black community
states, “There is no room in our hearts for hatred”. Read the excerpts below
from the article "Forgiveness…What’s it for?”. In your
essay, discuss the purpose of forgiveness and misconceptions people have. Also
explain the meaning of Don Henley's song, Heart of the Matter
and explain the quote above by Mahatma Gandhi. Finally, discuss the film, and
lessons viewers can learn about forgiveness. Be sure to include and fully
discuss specific examples from each document and media.
We often think of
forgiveness as something that someone who has done us wrong must ask of US.
There is always another way of looking at something. My thoughts on forgiveness
suggest that you focus on offering forgiveness TO the person who has wronged
you…
Forgiveness is a gift you
give to yourself. It is not something you do FOR someone else. It is not
complicated. It is simple. Simply identify the situation to be forgiven and ask
yourself: "Am I willing to waste my energy further on this matter?"
If the answer is "No," then that's it! All is forgiven.
Forgiveness is an act of
the imagination. It dares you to imagine a better future, one that is based on
the blessed possibility that your hurt will not be the final word on the
matter. It challenges you to give up your destructive thoughts about the
situation and to believe in the possibility of a better future. It builds
confidence that you can survive the pain and grow from it…
The greatest misconception
about forgiveness is the belief that forgiving the offense, such as an affair,
means that you condone it. Not true. In fact, we can only forgive what we know
to be wrong. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to reconcile with someone
who badly treated you.
Another misconception is
that it depends on whether the person who did you wrong apologizes, wants you
back, or changes his or her ways. If another person's poor behavior were the
primary determinant for your healing then the unkind and selfish people in your
life would retain power over you indefinitely. Forgiveness is the experience of
finding peace inside and can neither be compelled nor stopped by another…
Non-forgiveness keeps you
in the struggle. Being willing to forgive can bring a sense of peace and
well-being. It lifts anxiety and delivers you from depression. It can enhance
your self-esteem and give you hope…
Source: “Forgiveness…What’s
it For?” Copyright © 2007 - Larry
James. Adapted from the book, How to Really Love the One You're With.
The Heart of the Matter
(Mike Campbell/Don Henley/J.D. Souther)
© 1989
I
got the call today, I didn’t wanna hear
But I knew that it would come
An old, true friend of ours was talkin’ on the phone
She said you’d found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck,
And the struggles we went through
And how I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love’s open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more?
I’m
learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again
I’ve been tryin’ to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it’s about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore
These
times are so uncertain
There’s a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age?
The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They’re the very things - we kill I guess
Pride and competition
Cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us
You know it doesn’t keep me warm
I’m learning to live without you now
But I miss you, baby
And the more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I’d figured out
I have to learn again
I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think it’s about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore
There
are people in your life who’ve come and gone
They let you down you know they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you baby; life goes on
You keep carryin’ that anger; it’ll eat you up inside, baby
I’ve
been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thought seem to scatter
But I think it’s about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me
I’ve been tryin’ to get down
To the heart of the matter
Because the flesh will get weak
And the ashes will scatter
So I’m thinkin’ about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me
Forgiveness
Forgiveness - baby
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, you don’t love me anymore
~ 8th
graders
Forgiveness to some people is like
saying sorry for something you did. In other minds it means to forgive with all
your heart and believe that even though someone did wrong you can still leave
the hatred behind, because life is too short to waste your days away. We keep on waiting for the world to change
but we have the power to do so a little at a time and maybe just by making
peace instead of hate. Sometimes we
believe that the world is coming to an end when something terrible and
indescribable happens but you have to believe that at the end of the day things
will get better and instead of feeling there is no hope we have to keep the
faith no matter what. You can find out
about forgiveness from articles, music, stories, quotes, movies, and even real
life happenings.
Forgiveness
in movies shows a great understanding of how you should learn to forgive in the
real world. In the movie The Tulsa
Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story, there were so many lies through yellow
journalism and people telling about how the African Americans were blamed and
lynched for the littlest things, and sometimes for no apparent reason. The white community was always finding more
ways to kill off the African Americans, it was horrible punishment. The white community ruined so many of the
African American lives, but even though they tore there families apart, killed
them, blamed them and stretched the truth for everything that ever
happened. The African Americans still
believed that they had “no room in there hearts for hatred” and they had to try
to forgive because holding grudges is a perfect waste of time and energy. You have to take the good with the bad,
choose your battles and live for every moment that takes your breath away and
makes you smile.
You can
also find the meaning of forgiveness in songs.
The lyrics of the song are the most important they offer the message of
the song, which are so powerful they truly make you think about the things
going on in your life. The song “The
Heart of the Matter” by The Eagles is a song about forgiveness in a
relationship. I believe that everyone
should forgive, because if we waste time holding grudges then that is precious
time you will NEVER get back. Some
people think that by staying mad it is making the other person feel bad, but in
truth it is only hurting yourself.
Forgetting and forgiving are two completely different things, you don’t
have to forget about something terrible that someone has done but you should
still forgive instead of lowering yourself to their level. In the song “The Heart of the Matter” these
lyrics I believe have a special meaning about forgiveness. “The more I know,
the less I understand, all the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again,
I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak
and my thoughts seem to scatter, but I think its about forgiveness,
forgiveness” I think that these lines
mean that in order to fully understand why things happen the way they do you
have to forgive the bad and smile when your sad, you have to know that by
forgiving your making the world a better place for peace and love.
The quote
“If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world
will be blind and toothless” by Mahatma Gandhi has a very powerful and special
meaning. I believe that it means that if we keep fighting back what was fought
against us we will be just as bad as everyone else, we have to take a minute
and think about how we can handle certain situations. Instead of getting back at people just make
things better by letting it go! You will be doing yourself a favor if you just
breathe and let the bad roll right off your shoulder.
In the
Forgiveness article by Larry James it explains what forgiveness is for and how
it makes you feel. It says that
“Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. It is not something you do FOR
someone else. It is not
complicated. It is simple. To me this means that Forgiveness is just a
word but it has the power of a million!
You have to not only forgive the people who did you wrong but you have
to forgive yourself. Forgiveness can be
right around the corner if you find the peace between right and wrong.
In my own eyes forgiveness is just
like happiness, you have to forgive to be happy. I believe that two people can learn to love
and make peace just by making what they did wrong known, and then making things
better by forgiving. “You have to take
the good with the bad, smile when your sad, love what you got, and always
remember what you had, forgive and forget, because you only have one life to
live” I think that this quote has a lot to do with forgiveness because you have
to spend every moment of everyday like it was your last and you have to love
what you have instead of wish for something else, roll with the punches and
believe in yourself.
The song Change by Sean Kingston is a powerful
and inspiring song. The main chorus of
the song says it all “I wish I had the power, the power to change the world,
but I’m just one man tryin to do it on my own” It is true that in the world we
try to make a difference. Just one
person doing good will make a difference, but if everyone tries to do good then
it will make the WORLD of a difference. Another part of the lyrics of Change are “Hope to see black people living longer also less
kids without fathers we should all come together please stop fighting and
killing eachother” These lyrics also mean a lot about forgiveness
because people are always fighting and we need to try to change that, because
we cannot keep living this way soon our world will become destroyed because of
the hate between us. Everyday people
talk about peace, and when they give peace signs you wonder if they truly know
the meaning. We don’t even know how
lucky we are to have the things we do, that is why we need to forgive the
things that people have done or else we will be living lives filled with hatred
in our hearts. Hate is a strong word and
people don’t even know the power it has.
Hate can take over your life by feeling angry all the time you loose
track of what is good in life. Live and
Love, keep the Peace, because there is “no room in our hearts for hatred”.
Forgiveness is something we don’t
have enough of in the world. Forgiveness
is something that is chosen by some people, but others won’t care about
it. Sometimes, it’s about forgiving
yourself. You may have been the one to
cause the problem. Forgiveness is
necessary for a friendly world.
“If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless.” This quote by Mahatma Gandhi illustrates that
revenge isn’t the way to correct things.
Everybody makes mistakes, but you need to learn to fix them. Revenge doesn’t correct things, it just makes
the opposition angry and that makes things even harder to resolve. Forgiveness is needed in every problem,
argument, or even accidents. You can’t
always get a response from the people you forgive, but it still feels good. They do appreciate, even if they don’t show
it. You need to forgive people otherwise
the world will always have more problems.
The
article, “Forgiveness….
What’s It For?” explains why
forgiveness is needed. You don’t forgive
for others, but you do it as a kind of personal satisfaction. If you’re not satisfied, then you haven’t
forgiven anyone yet. If you don’t feel
like wasting any more energy on the problem, that’s it everything is
forgiven. Don’t waste any more time on
it if you don’t think it’s worth it.
It’s not all about them; you need to want to forgive them. It’s your choice to forgive them, it doesn’t
matter what they think. Some people
think that when you forgive someone, what they did is right. Wrong!
You’re only forgiving them not saying what they did is right or that
they’re good for doing it. Forgiveness is
only a personal satisfaction you don’t say anything’s right. The only thing that can be forgiven is the
things that are wrong.
In
“The Heart of the Matter” by the Eagles, the whole song is about
forgiveness. The lyrics say that he
heard something that hurt him. He knew
it would happen, but is learning to live without them. This means he’s learning to forgive himself
and the person who hurt him. This is
what is needed to move on from the problem.
You need to move on, but the problem is, forgiveness isn’t something
everyone can give. People need to learn
to forgive other people and mostly themselves.
One of the lines “You keep carrying that anger, it’ll eat you up
inside.” This means that if you don’t forgive to get
rid of your anger, you’ll be overwhelmed with stress. The whole song kept saying that he thought he
was done learning, but he kept learning the things he thought he knew.
The
If
the blacks from
Dale
Carnegie has forgiveness in many of his rules.
Strengthening relationships can be helped with forgiveness. Cooperation can be gained with forgiveness. Also Being a leader can have forgiveness in
it to. Forgiveness can help you become a
better person. It gives you internal
strength to have a good life.
Forgiveness is a big part of the
human life! Forgiveness is forgiving someone who made a big mistake. It is
giving the person who made the mistake your respect. Forgiveness is something
that you offer people that did you wrong. Forgiveness is the experience of
finding peace with one another. Forgiveness relates to a quote by Mahatma
Gandhi, the song “Heart of the matter”, a movie, and an article about
forgiveness!
The quote “If
we practiced an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world
will be blind and toothless”, by Mahatma Gandhi relates to forgiveness because
the quote says an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. This means if someone
was cooking in your house and they burned your house down, than you would want
to get even with them, so you would want to burn their house down. The better
choice would be to forgive them and save all the trouble, because if everyone
in our world got back at each other all the time, then it would fall apart. We
would all be angry and against each other. People should make the choice to
forgive rather than get justice on their own.
In the movie
called The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A
Hidden Story, it talks about forgiveness because it say’s how all the
people would be against each other over different laws and then they would forgive
each other about there thoughts, and for all the violence they caused. People
took justice into their own hands and this was bad. After the whites destroyed
the black’s houses and burned them down the black people left for a while. Then
the black people came back to the white and tried to forgive the whites because
they thought that there should not be hatred in there heart and souls. Even though the whites destroyed and burned
their houses down and then took pictures of them, they still tried to forgive
the whites.
The article
that talks about forgiveness has a lot to do with forgiveness. It talks about
how you give yourself forgiveness and not any one else. Another thing it says
is that you don’t have to reconcile with someone who badly treated you. You don’t
forgive for others feelings, but for yourself. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean
that you agree with the wrong thing they did. If you don’t forgive for yourself
you may stay sad and depressed.
The song called “The Heart of the
Matter” by Mike Campbell, Dan Henley, J.P. Souther, talks about forgiveness
because the singer talks about how forgiveness is more important than anything,
even though she doesn’t love him anymore. So he’s also basically saying that he
still wants to be friends! It also talks about understanding, and understanding
has a lot to do with forgiveness because forgiving means understanding each
other. One of the quotes are, “How can love survive in such a graceless age”.
This quote is asking how can we get through all this stuff if every one is
going to be mad at each other, and how are we going to find true friends and
love!
I think if
forgiveness did not exist, then our world, would, probably fall apart and also
not exist. Forgiveness is every thing. Forgiveness saves friend ships, family love
and respect from other people. Life would not be any thing with out
forgiveness. Forgiveness is a big part of our life, and I think we all should
use it!
Forgiving is often a very difficult
thing to do. Forgiveness means to “excuse a mistake or offense made by
someone.” I will be relating forgiveness to a song, a quote, a movie, and an
article. There are diverse ways to forgive.
In the quote “If we practice an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and
toothless.” by Mahatma Gandhi it does not talk about forgiveness. This quote means that two wrongs don’t make a
right. For an example, if someone hits you don’t hit him or her back. If we did
the world would fall apart because everyone would be against each other.
In the forgiveness article it says
that most people in the
The song The Heart of the Matter
by Mike Campbell, Don Henley, and D.J. Souther, the song is saying when you
loose something don’t hold it in because it will hurt you more. It hurts when
you loose someone but you have to let it go. It is ok to miss them too; this is
part of the healing process. “But I think it’s about forgiveness, forgiveness.
Even if even if you don’t love me anymore.” This shows that we can move on
after losing love, by forgiving.
In the movie, The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story the quote “There is no
room in our heart for hatred,” means that you can’t hate someone for your whole
life. You have a long life to live and you can’t go through life being mad at
someone. You’re not hurting them you’re hurting yourself. You want life to be
happy not miserable. If you forgive them that does not mean that you have to
like them, it means that you aren’t holding a grudge against them and you can
be happier.
In this essay I learned that you
should not hate someone that did something wrong to you all our life because it
will just make your life miserable. You
have the choice to forgive them. In the
words of Dale Carnegie, “Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain and use
encouragement. Make the fault seem easy
to correct.” This is a good quote
because when you are mad at someone you should think about your own mistakes
that you have made. Having empathy for
others helps in the forgiving process.
Forgiveness is a choice we make, but not
everyone makes that choice. Forgiveness is important, though, because people
don’t have to forgive to forget, they just have to forgive to make themselves
feel better. When people forgive, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everything
bad will go away, it just means that you don’t have to live in anger about it.
That’s how powerful forgiveness is. People can learn about forgiveness in
movies, quotes, songs, and news articles.
The song “The Heart of the
Matter” by the Eagles is a great example of forgiveness. In the song, Don
Henley sings about all his friends leaving him, but he didn’t keep all the
anger inside because “it will eat at his insides.” In other words, people
shouldn’t hold grudges because they would be angry all their lives, which
doesn’t solve anything. Before performing this song, Don Henley says, “it took
me almost forty years to write this song, but it only took me four minutes to
sing it.” This is because forgiveness is important in our lives, but many
people don’t know that and it takes a long time to learn.
Another example of
forgiveness, or rather the opposite of that, is the quote “If we practice an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and
toothless” by Mahatma Gandhi. The opposite of forgiveness is revenge. This
quote is saying that if people take revenge instead of choosing to forgive,
then there will be no forgiveness left in the world. Forgiving is better than
taking revenge because revenge does nothing other than make someone angrier.
Forgiveness is for yourself and no one else.
In the movie The Tulsa
Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story, the black community suffered a great
deal of loss and hatred brought on by the white community. However, even after
all they had been through, ( including their houses being burned to the ground
and their loved ones being killed ), a leader of the black community states,
“There is no room in our hearts for hatred.” This person did not mean that all
the blacks can forgive the white people and that everything was going to be
miraculously better and forgot. He just meant that the black people should
try to forgive the whites so that nobody is bottled up with anger. This was
important for the children because if the adults lived through life being
angry, then their kids will grow up to be angry as well.
The article
“Forgiveness…What’s it for?” by Larry James is all about forgiveness. The
author summarizes everything about forgiveness that is important. He says that
forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself which is what this essay is trying
to get across. If we forgive someone, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they
forgive you. People don’t even have to forgive someone face to face. As long as
you know that you have forgiven someone, that’s all that matters
because you can now live without anger. Another phrase that Larry James states in
the article is that forgiveness allows people to imagine a better future, which
is true. When someone forgives someone else they are hoping for a future
without grudges. A future where, in years time, they will not be angry.
In conclusion, forgiveness is a
powerful choice. You can change your whole attitude towards life if you just
choose to forgive. There is a lot of ways to forgive someone, whether face to
face or to yourself. People just have to realize that more often.
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to
love.
There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of
us.
When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself,” said Larry
James who also wrote “Forgiveness…What’s it For?” To forgive is something that can cure the
soul of hatred and can make you feel better about yourself and what you have
done. It’s using your power and showing
your empathy towards others. You can
learn about forgiveness from movies, songs, writing, quotes, and history.
“Forgiveness…What’s it For?” from the book How
To Really Love The One You’re With by Larry James tells you that
“Forgiveness is the experience of finding peace inside and can neither be
compelled nor stopped by another.” You
forgive for yourself, and it should give you a feeling of reassurance and
satisfaction. This article also states
that if you are able to forgive, you should because it can give you a brighter
and better future with someone. It is
also your choice if you want to forgive or hold a grudge.
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden
Story is a movie
that shows an unbelievable amount of forgiveness that was shown by African
Americans. The white people burned down
many homes of African Americans and also killed many of them. There were dead bodies and white men with
machine guns all over the street just because the African Americans had better
homes and the white men thought it was unjust.
Nevertheless, their leader thought that they shouldn’t have any room for
hatred in their hearts. Therefore,
African Americans still came together for Christmas and sang together just
because they were happy that they survived.
The choice that they made wasn’t easy, but they just wanted to be happy
in a safe environment.
The song The Heart of the Matter
by Don Henley explains that forgiveness can free the soul. The lines, “You keep carryin’ that anger;
it’ll eat you up inside, baby.” This
line states that you can’t keep having anger inside because eventually it will
come back to you. The first part of the
song states that you want to forgive a person and you should, “Even if, even if
you don’t love me anymore,” but the whole song states that you don’t forgive
someone just to tell them, but it’s for yourself. It also means that you can even use your
empathy and forgive a stranger.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If we
practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will
be blind and toothless.” This quote means that if nobody forgave and always
held grudges, then the world would be a very negative place, especially if we
always try to use revenge. However, you
have to remember that revenge doesn’t always solve your problems, but can just
make matters worse. Isaac Friedman once
said, “Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.”
Two wrongs don’t make a right, out of those two people, one person has
to change their opinion to be able to forgive and possibly forget.
These are some examples of
forgiveness in movies, songs, writing, quotes, and history that we have learned
over the years. To forgive is something
that you have to be willing to do for yourself.
The quote “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the
future.” Was said by Paul Boese. This
final quote means to not dread on what has happened, and to use it to your
advantage in what has to come. If you
can learn to forgive, then you will be able to have a better future for the
ones you love and care for.
When you
forgive you will feel like you have accomplished something important, and you
will probably feel relief. Even though you may still think it is wrong. It is
your choice to forgive a person for what they did. Anne Frank was mad at the
Nazi’s but she still had the power to forgive them for what they were doing to
her and her family. This allowed her to live a more happy life while she was
here. You can learn about forgiveness
from quotes, songs, movies, and other people’s experience.
The
song” The Heart of the Matter” is about how a man is trying to forgive his
girlfriend. In the song it sounds like she hurt him by finding someone else,
but he had the strength to forgive her. In a relationship if you don’t learn
how to forgive each other the relationship will not work out between the two.
Like Don Henley said “You keep carryin’ that anger; it’ll eat you up inside.”
You and your partner need to get along and have empathy for each other in order
to stay with each other. If you have a problem and you can’t continue a
relationship you should still forgive the other person and move on with your
life.
The
passage from “Forgiveness…What’s it For?” written by Larry James is trying to
tell you how it is not hard to forgive. It is your choice to use your power to
forgive what has happened to you. It
doesn’t matter if a person asks for forgiveness or not, it is up to you to get
out of the struggle. “The greatest
misconception about forgiveness is the belief that forgiving the offense, such
as an affair, means that you condone it.” It is important to realize that you
don’t have to agree with what others do to you in order to forgive them.
Mahatma
Gandhi’s quote “If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon
the whole world will be blind and toothless,” starts out with the idea that if
someone does something to you then you have the right to do the same to him or
her. This quote means that revenge
doesn’t accomplish anything. Instead of revenge the world might be a better
place if you forgive people. If you don’t forgive people the world will be rude
and obnoxious. We need to change the world, through forgiveness and then
everybody can live in peace.
The movie
the
Forgiveness
is important because if you don’t forgive you will regret what you have done to
a person in the past. When you forgive
you will feel like a new person. You
will feel happier and proud of yourself. When you have forgiven you will feel
that you have accomplished something.
Even though you might feel like you shouldn’t have forgiven the person
for what they did to you. The song, movies, and the other people’s experience
are examples of forgiveness and how people have had enough power to forgive.
When Anne Frank forgave the Nazi’s for what they did to her and her family, she
was not sure if she was doing the right thing. She wanted to live a happier
life instead of a sad and depressing life. Empathy is when you forgive someone
for what they have done to you. Forgiveness is harder than it seems, it may
take a while to do. Forgiveness is not
something that happens automatically.
“How
wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
before
starting to improve the world.”
“I keep my
ideals, because in spite of everything
I still
believe that people are really good at heart.”
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