Globally, reconciliation has offered a powerful path toward political and cultural progress. Most visibly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa directly confronted the denial of Black humanity by the white state. “Reconciliation required acknowledging and atoning for the wrong done — asking for their victims’ forgiveness while resolving never to repeat the wrongs and working to restore their victims to full humanity as fellow citizens,” notes Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, professor and chair of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University.

But what happens if a government never comes to terms with its structural racism, past and present? In the wake of continuous violence perpetrated by the U.S. state, reconciliation has surged as a critical strategy t [...]