The African Philosophy of Forgiveness and Abrahamic Traditions of Vengeance

Abstract

This papyrus suggests that penal abolitionism without forgiveness of the unforgiveable may be a license for self-help or vengeance. The papyrus offers a radical deconstruction of the essay, 'On Forgiveness', by Jacques Derrida, to reveal that contrary to popular misinterpretations, Derrida was demonstrating that forgiveness is more common in African traditions than in Abrahamic traditions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This papyrus goes beyond Derrida's examples from the recent history of South Africa and delves back to classical African civilization to demonstrate that the forgiveness of the unforgivable is indeed a long-running African tradition as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, among others, suggested. The papyrus ends with a call for people of African descent to apply this philosophy of forgiveness to one another and demand that the principle be integrated into public policy along with policies for reparations of historic wrongs.