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Why America needs to reject the Charleston massacre’s dangerous narrative of forgiveness
Well-intended forgiveness has been seized on by the media and those in power as an excuse to ignore white supremacy
ERICKA SCHICHE
TOPICS: CHARLESTON, DYLANN ROOF, NEWS, POLITICS NEWS
Why America needs to reject the Charleston massacre's dangerous narrative of forgiveness
Dylan Roof (Credit: AP/Chuck Burton)
Unfortunately, forgiveness, that element of moral sanctity which facilitates assuaging of grief, has morphed into a barrier obstructing the path to justice and accountability in the United States — a place weakened by the ubiquitousness and insidiousness of racism.
Although it’s tough to direct a critical lens at the concept of forgiveness when the situation involves grieving family members tearfully addressing an expressionless, depraved killer who isn’t even asking for it, for posterity’s sake this must be done. What happened in Charleston, South Carolina, last week wasn’t an anomaly or isolated incident. It’s just the latest of many incidents of racial hatred exploding into a violent expression of a flawed, commonly espoused belief: that black people are to remain dehumanized and oppressed.
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/27/why_...ium=socialflow
Well-intended forgiveness has been seized on by the media and those in power as an excuse to ignore white supremacy
ERICKA SCHICHE
TOPICS: CHARLESTON, DYLANN ROOF, NEWS, POLITICS NEWS
Why America needs to reject the Charleston massacre's dangerous narrative of forgiveness
Dylan Roof (Credit: AP/Chuck Burton)
Unfortunately, forgiveness, that element of moral sanctity which facilitates assuaging of grief, has morphed into a barrier obstructing the path to justice and accountability in the United States — a place weakened by the ubiquitousness and insidiousness of racism.
Although it’s tough to direct a critical lens at the concept of forgiveness when the situation involves grieving family members tearfully addressing an expressionless, depraved killer who isn’t even asking for it, for posterity’s sake this must be done. What happened in Charleston, South Carolina, last week wasn’t an anomaly or isolated incident. It’s just the latest of many incidents of racial hatred exploding into a violent expression of a flawed, commonly espoused belief: that black people are to remain dehumanized and oppressed.
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/27/why_...ium=socialflow
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