The Arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

-Theodore Parker

The philosophy behind bending the Arc is central to the whole Truth and Reconciliation conversation.

The arc moves a gradual process involving incremental steps forward that overcome past injustices including Backlash, (the over-corrections of wild swings and punitive actions by the powerful against the marginalized.) The irresistible temptation is for the powerful to disrupt and overturn their own enshrined systems and create new rules when the existing ones are shown to be inadequate in keeping racial/social stratifications in place.

Therefore, the laws, written and unwritten, meant to keep certain members of society on the outside of righteousness and justice are laid bare and exposed as systematic fallacy and hypocrisy. The divisive social constructs are turned on their heads from their originally intended purpose of exclusion through critical examination, scrutiny, and legal strategy work towards inclusion.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. applied this philosophy through his well-organized pressure that he and fellow organizers such as the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with many more who hold America to account for the words written in its foundational documents and the freedoms they pronounce. Through careful analysis, strategic accountability and discovery, the philosophy behind the bending of the arc would codify the great American Experiment/Ideal in a way that would include everyone.

“The phrase “bending the arc” can be connected to truth and reconciliation processes, which aim to address past injustices. The concept suggests actively working towards a more just and equitable future, even when progress appears slow, by confronting the wrongs of the past and promoting healing. This aligns with the idea of “bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice,” which is a famous quote from Martin Luther King Jr

AI overview

“The Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation (TRHT) framework defines “to heal” as to restore to wholeness, to repair damage, and to set right. Healing a societal racial divide requires acknowledging the wrongs of the past, while also addressing the consequences of those wrongs. Racial healing involves focusing on ways for all of us to heal from the wounds of the past, to build mutually respectful relationships across racial and ethnic lines that honor and value each person’s humanity, and to build trusting intergenerational and diverse community relationships that better reflect our common humanity. Racial healing is about building relationships, connecting people, and expanding the circles of engagement needed for overcoming racial hierarchy and building political will. It is a precursor to meaningful and sustainable policy change.”

-Racial Healing and Relationship Building PDF. From the American Public Health Association  

For science, For action, For health. October 2021

We have come so far, only to see it seemingly ruined. In the 7^th chapter of Joshua in scripture, His armies lost a very winnable battle against their enemies at AI. AI in this passage is translated as ruined. They lost the first battle of ruin. However, they came back and won the second one. Lesson to be learned is many battles may come and go, and we won’t win them all. Remember, “The Arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. In the case of Joshua’s armies. One of the men in his camp named Achan was disobedient to the instructions of the Lord. He kept something back for himself, a spoil, an Idol, referred to as a “Babylonish garment,” or even better known as Achan’s Garment.

To Christian believers like me, it speaks of disobedience as opposed to obedience to the Lord. For, “scripture says in 1 Samuel 15:22 “obedience is better than sacrifice.” Also, the action by Achan speaks to loss of focus. That is where we come to a challenging, introspective look at ourselves, assessing and probing our actions and motivations. We each must ask, what part of the ruin were lost to my lack of focus? As the movement hit a stale note and stalled off the treacherous 2025 road of ruin, where did our collective voice lose purpose and the clear moral high ground?

This is not a moment to bemoan and fall as helpless victims to the overwhelming seas of guilt and self-condemnation. We have everything in our favor, the constitution, past practices of legal precedent, the historical record, unstoppable demographic change in our future, a God who is faithful, a greater cloud of witnesses who have gone on before us (our ancestors,) and The Arc of the Moral Universe that is long but bends towards justice.  

There exists an inevitability to the arc of the moral universe supposition. To guarantee its outcome we must remain active participants, by uplifting all in our racial justice community, including Allies and Advocates. We must also be adamant about reaching across the divide in real and tangible humanitarian ways to uplift those who are in opposition to our efforts. These general community types of efforts will produce the relationships needed to sustain our push for justice.

This kind of faithful dedication will lead us to a pathway of productive dialog that the disenchanted and the indifferent on all sides of the ethnic divide will not be able to ignore. Truth and Reconciliation will not come in the form of some future administrations forced program. But it will be a bottom-up movement that the federal government will have to align with and omnibus in accordance with the demands of a national Truth and Reconciliation conversation. Reconciliation makes room for not only restoration but forgiveness.

Dylann Roof walked into, shot, and killed 9 persons in Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. Afterward, at his sentencing many of the family members offered forgiveness for Roof. Though he will still pay, possibly with his life. This kind of forgiveness is divine. Yet, we in microaggression, unconscious bias influenced society can also show forgiveness through empathy, while at the same time preserving our dignity.

The kind of division that populates the national landscape is unsustainable. However, regardless of the rhetoric that carelessly boasts of a future civil war or worse, there is a collective confidence to know Truth and Reconciliation will once again bend us a little closer towards justice.