Author: Myisha Cherry

Sages from Cicero to Oprah have told us that forgiveness requires us to let go of negative emotions and that it has a unique power to heal our wounds.

In “Failures of Forgiveness,” Myisha Cherry argues that these beliefs couldn’t be more wrong — and that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. 

She presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness — one that will give us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward “radical repair.”

Cherry began exploring forgiveness after some relatives of the victims of a mass shooting in  South Carolina forgave what seemed unforgiveable. She was troubled that many observers appeared to be more inspired by these acts of forgiveness than they were motivated to confront the racial hatred that led to the killings. That is a big mistake, she says. We can forgive and still be angry, there can be good reasons not to forgive, and forgiving a wrong without tackling its roots solves nothing.