Dr. Myisha Cherry: Racialized Forgiveness

Dr. Myisha Cherry presents “Racialized Forgiveness,” in which she explores how we can practice forgiveness differently.

February 16, 2021, 12:20pm-1:20pm MST, 11:20am-12:20pm, PST. Registration Link: tinyurl.com/HSClecture (free lecture, but registration in advance is required).

The Harold Stoner Clark Lecture Series, endowed by the late Mr. Clark and sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at California Lutheran University, was established in 1985. We couldn’t be more excited that we are hosting Dr. Myisha Cherry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at University of California, Riverside.

Abstract from the speaker: I shall introduce a concept that I refer to as ‘racialized forgiveness.’ Cases that exemplify certain conditions which I take as paradigmatic of the problem of racialized forgiveness includes instances in which: (a) Who is forgiven and not is determined by the race of the offender; (b) Praise and criticisms of forgiveness are determined by the race of the victim; and (c) Praise and criticisms of forgiveness are, at least implicitly, racially self-serving. I argue that the practice of it is morally objectionable because of its psychological origins, moral failures, and negative effects. Accordingly, in order to dodge these dimensions, I’ll claim we need to practice forgiveness differently.