Forgiveness is key

Imagine, being taken from your home. Sold and thrown into a country where you don’t know anyone, you don’t know the

language, and you’re forced to work; without pay, under threat of violence, with no means to escape. After you’re freed, if you’re that lucky, can you find the will to forgive what’s been done to you? For many people, that would probably be a hard question to answer, because we could only imagine how difficult it would be to forgive anyone who put us through so much pain and for reason that we rarely ever understand. It may be hard for those who have experienced the trauma to ever adapt to the idea of forgiving those who have essentially taken their life away from them. Although it seems like it’s nearly impossible, forgiveness is an important step in the healing and rehabilitation of former slaves back into society. Therapy is an important part of healing, but one can never fully heal and move on, until they can forgive those whom have done them wrong. “Without forgiveness, there's no future”-Desmond Tutu. Desmond is a South African activist whom fully advocates for forgiveness. In the book, The Impossible Will Take a Little while, Desmond talks about Rwanda, and how the people were able to move on, and forgive those whom had massacred so many of them. Instead of seeking revenge “there was this remarkable Truth and Reconciliation Commission to which people told their heart-rending stories, victims expressing their willingness to forgive and perpetrators telling their stories of sordid atrocities while also asking for forgiveness they had wronged so grievously.” The fact that people are willing to forgive, and that others are even willing to admit their faults, allows everyone to move on in the process of healing. Although the topic is different, the answer is still the same. In order for slavery to end today, we need to help those who have been hurt forgive those who have hurt them. Forgiving does not only help one mentally but physically as well. Being able to forgive, allows one to let go of the not only the pain and suffering, but also the fear they had for so many years. Kevin Bales, author of Ending Slavery, also believes that forgiveness is an important step in ending the vicious cycle of slavery. “Forgiveness will be hard—for many it may be impossible—but is there full freedom without forgiveness? If the slaves of today carry their pain and recrimination into liberation, bitterness will flow down through the generations. We will have to let freed slaves lead us; let them say how they can best ease their anger and pain. The children of slaves and the children of slaveholders will have to find a way to share the world without anger. Even as we seek to destroy the evil of slavery forever, we must help build the reconciliation that silences slavery’s echo of hatred.” The hatred that lives in those who have been enslaved moves on through generations and even the mindset of slave holders moves on to their children. In order for slavery for fully end, we must help show slaves that the best revenge is forgiveness, because when one forgive, then can they move on to be successful.