Feeding the Hate

Is letting someone off the hook the same as forgiving them?
I hate my parents for being awful parents. They didn't know the first fucking thing about being parents so why did they have children? It's probably as simple as they didn't know the first fucking thing about birth control.
I thought I'd forgiven them a hundred times & yet here I am, back in this place of utter & shear hate & condemnation for two people who just didn't know any better & who did the best they could with what they had. Does that mean I have to let them off the hook?

This is painful, this above feeling of pure hatred. I hate them. I hate myself for hating. I hate myself for being so connected to them still. I hate that I have to hate them in order to feel safe. I hate that I eat to avoid this feeling altogether. Food will not take away this pain. Food will not make it go away. Being full will do no more than further the hurt. I hurt so I hurt myself. It makes no sense & yet there it is.