Amy Cooper Will Not Find Redemption Without Forgiveness

I live but a hop, skip and a jump from where the confrontation between Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper took place on Memorial Day in Central Park.

As anyone who has seen the video will know that Ms. Cooper overreacted to Mr. Cooper's admonition that she leash her dog by calling the NYPD and repeatedly claiming she was being threatened by "an African-American man." Mr. Cooper kept his cool during Ms. Cooper's racist tirade which in the wrong hands could have brought him considerable harm up to and including his very life. Ms. Cooper has paid a deep price for her foolishness and reckless behavior. She has lost her job and her pooch. Good luck in finding a new career in the midst of a global pandemic. In the minds of many, Ms. Cooper would be deemed more toxic than COVID-19 itself.

In an article in The Bulwark, Mona Charen holds out the hope that Ms. Cooper can find redemption:

Amy Cooper told CNN that her “entire life” is being destroyed by this. She has apologized and claimed not to be a racist. Does anyone ever admit to racism? I think even David Duke claims that he’s merely standing up for white people.

Still, Amy Cooper can salvage some grace from this awful fall from it. She can start by confessing that, yes, she is a racist, and vowing to change. She can volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America or the Success Academy or some other organization that works to make life better for African-American kids. She can study up on the history of slavery and Jim Crow. And she can send a check to the ASPCA while she’s at it. She understandably feels that her life is being “destroyed,” but if she handles this right, it could be vastly improved. She could become a symbol of redemption instead of sin.

I suspect Charen might be engaging in wishful thinking here. In order for Ms. Cooper to find redemption it will be necessary for people to forgive her for her act. Understandably, people might not be inclined to do such a thing at the present moment. Her claims of not being a racist undermine her efforts at contrition. 

But I also believe in a country where Twitter rules that we are a far less forgiving people than we once were. We prefer a pound of flesh and then another. Some will never be satiated. The Central Park Civic Commission has called upon Mayor de Blasio to ban Ms. Cooper from Central Park for the rest of her life. Given that Central Park runs for 50 blocks covering some 840 acres I'm not sure how this edict could possibly or practically be enforced. Although Charen has made some suggestions as to how Ms. Cooper could redeem herself, I'm not sure anything short of discovering a vaccine for COVID-19 would work. 

Actually, I can think of one way. Amy Cooper could be forgiven if Christian Cooper is prepared to forgive her. It is a lot to ask and Mr. Cooper is under no obligation to do so. But if the families of those slaughtered at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina could forgive white supremacist Dylann Roof then anything is possible - in good time.