There’s no point in burying a hatchet if you’re going to put up a marker on the site.

The metaphor contrasts two incompatible impulses: to “bury the hatchet” (end a feud) and to “put up a marker” (commemorate the place of injury). Harris implies that forgiveness fails when it becomes performative or conditional—when we keep a monument to the wrong so we can revisit it, invoke it in future arguments, or preserve our sense of being righted. True reconciliation requires relinquishing the need to keep the grievance available as evidence. The remark also critiques a common social habit: announcing peace while maintaining subtle reminders that keep the conflict alive, ensuring the relationship remains organized around past harm rather than renewed trust.