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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of The Black Detour.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the marginalization of Black people has been a constant reminder that we are treated like second-class citizens in America. With the various obstacles Black people have had to endure in this country from slavery, black codes, Jim Crow laws, discrimination in the housing market and the inability to vote and have full rights unto the law. Not to mention how they kept us from gaining and passing down wealth to our families. With all the trauma Black people have faced over a three hundred plus year period many people would suspect Black people would have resentment towards America and their oppressors.

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The question of “are Black people too forgiving” is an interesting dynamic to examine. When we take a look at history it is easy to name several atrocities that have been rendered against Black people. From the obvious 246 plus years of slavery, Black codes, Jim Crow Laws, mass incarceration to acts of violence we had to endure during the civil rights movement just gain some of our rights. The disbursing part is those are only a few highlights of the pain we’ve had to encounter in America. Not mentioning all the pain and mental health issues that often go unnoticed that we’ve suffered as apart of all we have to go through.

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Although we’ve suffered great pain as a collective we’ve always found forgiveness in our hearts. Maybe it’s because of religion, maybe because we’re naturally a forgiving people or maybe because we’ve been trained since slavery to accept being at the bottom of the totem pole and subconsciously we accept that?

Many skeptics of forgiveness go back to the civil rights era where it was well-documented that our people were brutalized by police, the KKK, local citizens, and some state governments played a role as well. However, history has portrayed this era as the only publicized way we fought back was protesting, boycotting, singing and praying for better days. This concept always seem to lead with a forgiving or Jesus complex disseminating the message that we should forgive the oppressor, because this is the only way we can overcome.

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Piggybacking to today when we see Black men and women killed by police on a daily basis and now we’re seeing a surge in white people calling the police on Black people just for living in most cases.

Black people who’ve played a major role in America by believing in the dream of America even when this dream was not a reality for Black people. One of the realities majority of Black people face is the realization that yes, America sucks and there are various obstacles set in place to stop you from being even somewhat successful in American terms of success. However, many of us have adopted the ideology that we have no other option but to migrate this sea of discrimination, systematic racism, mass incarceration and miseducation to make a way for ourselves in America.

SEE ALSO: 5 Reasons Why the Brown v. Board of Education Decision was Detrimental to the Black community

The mainstream media doesn’t help with this narrative usually asking families of Black people who are victims of tragic crimes “have you forgave ___ yet?” As if it is a prerequisite for Black victims is to automatically forgive. Forgiveness has seemingly become a requirement for Black America. We’re accepted to grieve and forgive at the same time. Just as parents and loved ones of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Mike Brown, Eric Garner and many others were all asked in interviews if they’d forgive the men who killed their loved one.

What is proper forgiveness?

In an article published on The Salt Collective by Ulysses Burley III did, in my opinion, an excellent job of explaining proper forgiveness:

“Proper forgiveness is a lot like oppression; it requires that both be liberated in order to experience prophetic relief. Whereas with oppression, the one in need of liberation is obviously the one being pinned down, with the oppressor being the unlikely candidate in need of freedom as well. The inverse is true for black forgiveness; black forgiveness liberates the oppressor without also freeing ourselves from the confines of anger and resentment. Black forgiveness allows the oppressor to let up, but we don’t get up – continuing to be pinned to the ground by a “pathetic” grief.”

In the end, I believe that we have to stop waiting for America to love and accept us. For far too long we’ve waited on America to give us equality and truly accept us. However, we’ve waited protested, boycotted and forgave for us to still get slapped in the face again and again. Not to mention the wealth gap in America represented in the table below shows what has forgiveness really given us. Other than given our oppressor a good peace of mind that what they’re doing to us isn’t really wrong or needs to stop. This system has systemically kept us from wealth, housing, jobs, quality education ensuring that we’re at the bottom of every statistical category that classifies success in America.

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