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Reconciliation and New Beginnings

Decent Essays

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”. Reconciling with someone is one of the hardest things a person can do. Throughout Bill Clintons book Giving, he discusses cases where reconciling/forgiving someone is important, along with giving those who wronged a new beginning. However it’s a hard thing to do, to completely let go of something painful and forgive the person who may or may not realize what they did.
Nelson Mandela served 27 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the corrupt state, known as apartheid, in South Africa. Years after his release, he was elected as the 1st president of South Africa. Mandela, “invited the men who guarded him in jail to his inauguration, put leaders who had supported apartheid in his cabinet, and set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to give people who had committed crimes during the apartheid era the chance to avoid imprisonment by confessing” (Clinton 89). Mandela was a man who really understood reconciling. He knew that even if someone did something wrong, they did deserve a fresh start.
In addition to reconciliation, one of the most amazing efforts are those taking place in Rwanda. “In 1994, killers from the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis and their Hutu sympathizers in ninety days” (Clinton 96). Today if one were to travel to Rwanda like Clinton, they would witness Hutus and Tutsis living side by side in villages. The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame,

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