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White people frequently like to celebrate black forgiveness because they conflate it w/ reconciliation, no accountability, & skirting repentance & repair, thereby keeping antiblack oppression in place. In essence, it is the refusal to seek justice.
But I'm not against black forgiveness bc when it is genuine it is healing for oppressed people & I don't desire to become callous like oppressors. Forgiveness let's me release the bitterness inside that eats away at us. But we too sometimes conflate forgiveness & reconciliation.
Forgiveness isn't the suppression of genuine indignation or pain. Forgiveness, from my understanding, should be paired with truth. And the only path to restorative justice for the oppressed & the oppressor requires repentance & reparations from the wrongdoer.
Forgiveness doesn't deny that, but it is a journey, often long and ongoing, of releasing the person & the bitterness that has you captive. Forgiveness, after all, is about the experience of God's delivering presence working on the inside, while pursuing liberation on the outside.
