This article aims to remind readers of the distressing nature of decolonization. Decolonization involves the repatriation of Indigenous land and life, and it is not a metaphor for other actions we want to take to improve our societies. The easy adoption of decolonizing discourse, evident in the increasing calls to "decolonize our schools," "use decolonizing methods," or "decolonize the mind," turns decolonization into a metaphor. Despite its significant goals, such as social justice, critical methodologies, and approaches that decentralize settler perspectives, the objectives of these projects may be incommensurable with decolonization. Since settler colonialism is built on a tripartite structure of settler-native-slave, the desires for decolonization among white, non-white, migrant, post-colonial, and oppressed people can get entangled in resettlement, re-occupation, and reinsertion, which actually promote settler colonialism. Turning decolonization into a metaphor allows for a series of evasions, or "settlers' moves to innocence," which problematically attempt to reconcile settler guilt and complicity while rescuing the future of settlers. This article analyzes various settlers' moves to innocence to promote an "ethic of incommensurability" that recognizes what is distinct and sovereign for decolonization projects compared to social justice projects based on human and civil rights. It also highlights concerning issues within transnational/third-world decolonization, abolition, and critical space-place pedagogies, challenging efforts for social justice and suggesting potential more significant alliances.This article aims to remind readers of the distressing nature of decolonization. Decolonization involves the repatriation of Indigenous land and life, and it is not a metaphor for other actions we want to take to improve our societies. The easy adoption of decolonizing discourse, evident in the increasing calls to "decolonize our schools," "use decolonizing methods," or "decolonize the mind," turns decolonization into a metaphor. Despite its significant goals, such as social justice, critical methodologies, and approaches that decentralize settler perspectives, the objectives of these projects may be incommensurable with decolonization. Since settler colonialism is built on a tripartite structure of settler-native-slave, the desires for decolonization among white, non-white, migrant, post-colonial, and oppressed people can get entangled in resettlement, re-occupation, and reinsertion, which actually promote settler colonialism. Turning decolonization into a metaphor allows for a series of evasions, or "settlers' moves to innocence," which problematically attempt to reconcile settler guilt and complicity while rescuing the future of settlers. This article analyzes various settlers' moves to innocence to promote an "ethic of incommensurability" that recognizes what is distinct and sovereign for decolonization projects compared to social justice projects based on human and civil rights. It also highlights concerning issues within transnational/third-world decolonization, abolition, and critical space-place pedagogies, challenging efforts for social justice and suggesting potential more significant alliances.