No Future Without Forgiveness (Desmond Tutu)

For decades (~1950-1994), Apartheid (a system of racial segregation) was practiced in South Africa, whereby the minority White population subjugated the majority Black in every way.  Communities were relocated (to separate Black from White), Blacks were deprived of basic needs (like access to good medicine, food, jobs, and education), and Blacks perceived to be troublemakers were (often unjustly) accused of terrorist acts and tortured or killed without fair trial.  International and domestic outrage eroded the regime's support over time, and in 1994, Nelson Mandela (who had been imprisoned for 27 years by the Apartheid government, and released only four years prior) won the Presidential election- the first democratically held in the country's history (I think).  I'm summarizing of course- leaving out some important details- but I need to set the stage for this book.

What does a group of people do when they suddenly have power and a voice after decades of suppression and injustice?  It's impossible (and unwise) to forget the past- it must be dealt with for true healing to occur.  It could be handled several ways:
1. The Nuremberg Trial approach- prosecute as many perpetrators as possible and 'make them pay'
2. Blanket Amnesty- state that horrors occurred in the past, but move on without specifics or condemnation for the perpetrators
3. A compromise:

Our country's negotiators rejected the two extremes and opted for a "third way," a compromise between the extreme of Nuremberg trials and a blanket amnesty or national amnesia.  And that third way was granting amnesty to individuals in exchange for a full disclosure relating to the crime for which amnesty was being sought.  

South Africa chose this third way and formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)- a panel to systematically handle public disclosures of wrongs committed and experienced throughout the land.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu headed the TRC, and discusses it in his masterful work No Future Without Forgiveness.

In No Future Without Forgiveness, Tutu outlines the TRC's approach, discusses its creation and architecture, answers its critics, provides examples of the horrors suffered and committed, and claims that there truly is no future without reconciliation.  He makes several valid points about problems with other approaches:
- true justice was both impossible (many acts were shrouded in state-sponsored secrecy, and truth beyond reasonable doubt was impossible to determine) and prohibitively expensive (just one trial could cost the government millions of dollars- an approach that could not scale to the levels required).
- blanket amnesty denied the past and hurt the victims a second time by refusal to acknowledge the truth of the situation.  It also provided no mechanism for reparations or contrition of any kind.

Thus, a third way- a call to come forward and speak the truth.  For victims, that meant telling their stories (often for the first time) in a forum of willing listeners.  Often, just telling the story and letting the world know the truth had a therapeutic effect.  For perpetrators, that meant acknowledging their crimes and disclosing as much information as they could in exchange for potential amnesty (their crimes had to meet certain criteria to be eligible for pardon).  Could this work?  Wouldn't that mean the guilty would walk away?

One might go on to say that perhaps justice fails to be done only if the concept we entertain of justice is retributive justice, whose chief goal is to be punitive . . . We contend that there is another kind of justice, restorative justice, which was characteristic of traditional African jurisprudence.  Here the central concern is not retribution or punishment.  In the spirit of ubuntu, the central concern is the healing of breaches, the redressing of imablances, the restoration of broken relationships, a seeking to rehabilitate both the victim and the perpetrator, who should be given the opportunity to be reintegrated into the community he has injured by his offense.

In the end, South Africa decided that what it needed more than revenge was healing, and that it couldn't get that healing without acknowledgement of evil and forgiveness of the same.

Thus to forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summum bonum, that greatest good, communal harmony that enhances the humanity and personhood of all in the community.

This book should be required reading.  Truth, forgiveness, and reconciliation are truly needed by all if we are to have a future.  I'm leaving a lot of good things out for the sake of brevity- read the book and see what I mean.

Rating: A