Brandt Jean, the younger brother of the man who Amber Guyger shot and killed in his own apartment last year, gave Guyger a hug after she was sentenced last week. Judge Tammy Kemp also gave Guyger a hug, sparking controversy over forgiveness and justice.
Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III joined Boston Public Radio Monday to discuss this controversy.
"There's a distinction between individual forgiveness, which is what we saw with Brandt Jean, versus institutional forgiveness, which is an egregious act that we saw with the judge," Monroe said. "Institutional forgiveness, which is what the judge exampled, gives an example of how we devalue the justice system and black lives going through that system."
Price said that he thinks it's a shame that people are using their own expectations and beliefs to judge Brandt Jean in his moment of forgiveness.
"It's easy to backseat quarterback and say, 'If that was me, what would I do?'" Price said. "But [Brandt Jean] felt that he needed to speak to [Guyger] in a way that she understood. Reconciliation is an ongoing spiritual process, and a hug does not necessarily equate to the completion of the word," Price said.
Monroe said the expectation that black people should forgive fast and easily is a historical and ongoing injustice.
"We African Americans give away forgiveness like it's confetti," Monroe said. "In so doing, it cheapens the argument, as well as the movement, that black lives matter."
Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail and a visiting researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology.
Price is professor of worship, church & culture and founding executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Together they host the All Rev’d Up podcast, produced by WGBH.
