Gandhi, day 2

Today we saw Gandhi's return to India and his plans to be nonviolent but not passive in bringing about an end to colonialism.

We will not be watching the movie tomorrow, since I will be at a conference. I have provided a handout which includes many of Gandhi's inspirational sayings. You will be responsible to comment on at least 5 of them and provide examples of how these apply to a situation in your life or a situation today in society.

Some of you do not seem as excited about Gandhi as I am. In my mind, he is one of the most influential people ever to have walked the earth.

Reasons why Gandhi was a true revolutionary:
1. He lived in a society where there was prejudice from the outside (from Britain), from within Indian society (the caste system) and prejudice and hatred between religions (Christian, Hindu, Muslim). He did not discriminate against religions, social classes, or races.
2. He did not back down from a fight, but at the same time he did not fight using violence--he used his courage to organize and respond with nonviolence at all times.
3. When his followers wanted to resort to violence, he stopped them.
4. His writings and actions have been influential in freedom movements all over the world--Africa, the United States civil rights movement, Irish reconciliation, and all over the world.

Would any of us have the courage to stand up for something we believed in using nonviolence? Would we risk losing our entire way of life to do the right thing? We have seen two movies that showed people who used such unbelievable courage.

If you are interested in doing extra work that can either be applied to the first or second quarter (for first quarter, I must receive it by next Tuesday), you may do the following:

1. Write a compare/contrast essay about the courage shown by Gandhi and Schindler.
2. Discuss (essay/Power Point) how Gandhi influenced other people/freedom movements in the world.
3. Apply the situation in Gandhi's time (religious discrimination and discrimination as a result of the caste system) to another society (even America).
4. Research the caste system in India. Discuss the issue of "dalit's rights" in India today.

A well-researched paper of at least 3-4 pages in MLA format with citations complete will be able to replace a bad grade--credit will be related to the effort and quality of the work.