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Summary

Hatch, John B (2002). Reconciliation: Building a Bridge from Complicity to Coherence in the Rhetoric of Race Relations Rhetoric & Public Affairs. 6(4): 737-764.

Race relations xe2x80x93 racial inequality and racial antagonism xe2x80x93 remain a significant problem in the United States, writes John Hatch. Concurrently, there is an international trend toward interethnic and interracial reconciliation, as witnessed in South Africa, Australia, Ireland, and other countries. Initiatives to overcome ethnic and racial conflicts have included such measures as public confession, apology, forgiveness, and even reparation in some cases. One commentator on the subject of race, Mark Lawrence McPhail, has briefly noted the potential value and validity of racial reconciliation in light of his theory of xe2x80x9crhetoric as coherence.xe2x80x9d Yet, he has not explored this idea in depth. In response, Hatch in this article aims to show that public intergroup reconciliation can constitute a substantial xe2x80x93 not merely verbal xe2x80x93 rhetorical bridge between the reality of racism and McPhailxe2x80x99s ideal of coherence. Hatch calls this coherent reconciliation xe2x80x93 reconciliation consisting not of xe2x80x9cmere rhetoricxe2x80x9d but of efforts to build a solidly grounded bridge from a racist past to a more just and harmonious interracial future.

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