Forgiveness and Black Americans as It Relates to Racial Trauma

ABSTRACT This study investigated the complex relationship between forgiveness and racial trauma among Black Americans and focused on how experiences of racial discrimination affect mental health and the capacity to forgive. Drawing on theories of race‐based traumatic stress and forgiveness, we used the Racial Trauma Scale (RTS) and the Forgiveness Reconciliation Inventory (FRI) to analyze responses from 196 Black participants. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a moderate relationship ( r c = 0.39) between forgiveness and racial trauma symptoms, with psychological safety and coping mechanisms contributing more to collaborative exploration and remorse/change of the offender. The results emphasize the importance of culturally responsive and trauma‐informed counseling approaches, prioritizing emotional safety and coping strategies over forgiveness as a universal therapeutic goal. This study also supports the validity of the RTS and FRI scores, highlighting their usefulness in assessing racial trauma and forgiveness within clinical and research contexts.