Damaged intergroup trust can be repaired through apologies, reparations, and structural fixes.

Evidence

But Mohler’s approach represents what I’ve dubbed “the white Christian shuffle,” a subtle two-steps-forward-one-step-back pattern of lamenting past sins in great detail, even admitting that they have had pernicious effects, but then ultimately denying that their legacy requires reparative or costly actions in the present. It’s a sophisticated rhetorical strategy that emphasizes lament and apology, expects absolution and reconciliation, but gives scant attention to questions of justice, repair, or accountability. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 166 (#complicates, via linked claim)

As Tutu (1999) has discussed, for groups to engage in reconciliation, they may have to forego seeking retribution (and perhaps reparations) and settle for restorative justice which ultimately requires a re-integration of former perpetrators so that they come to be seen as deserving of similar treatment as victims. Such an agenda may be especially hard to swallow during periods of ongoing open conflict. Indeed, groups are likely to have powerful punishments for ingroup members who suggest that perpetrators and victims share anything at all – especially the same social category. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 2011 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Perceived insincere apologies backfire while unequivocal ones can advance peace. — Scott Atran, The Devoted Actor: Unconditional…, 42; Intergroup apologies can make relations worse without preexisting trust. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1487; An apology restores victim status and affirms breached values simultaneously — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations:…, 78 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Apology-focused racial reckoning can sidestep demands for reparative action #complicates (0.85) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 166
• Institutional apologies can deploy advantageous comparison to self-cast as victims #complicates (0.83)
• Reconciliation demands rehumanizing perpetrators, which ingroup norms punish #complicates (0.81) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 2011