But restorative justice is about the profound inability of retributive justice to effect permanent closure on great human atrocities. There is no point exacting vengeance now, knowing that it will be the cause for future vengeance by the offspring of those we punish. Vengeance leads only to revenge. It is, in fact, thoroughly realistic. It can never lead to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Amnesia is no solution.
Vengeance destroys those it claims and those who become intoxicated with it. It seems clear that if we can't deal with deep conflicts, they don't disappear. You can't cover over the cracks forever. This was true in South Africa after the English and Afrikaner wars, which left bitterness and seething that continues below the surface. In the U.S. too, I expect this has been the situation since the Civil War, with its undercurrents and tensions left largely unresolved-a bristling of deep suspicion that has made it harder to address the problems of race with clarity and justice.