General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley: If whipping's illegal, "every black parent in the south
is going to be in jail."
Oprah Winfrey has also spoken out about (and against) how common this is among the black community, and points to academics who say it is a vestige of slavery.
So, is it racist to say -- if this is true, it's a real problem? And what needs to happen for it to change? Because it's NOT good for the children.
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2014/09/15/barkley-every-black-parent-in-the-south-whips-their-kids/
NEW YORK (CBS Houston/AP) NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley claims that black parents in the South whip their children.
Barkley defended Adrian Peterson after the Minnesota Vikings running back was charged with child abuse, stating that black parents who live in the South spank their children.
Whipping we do that all the time. Every black parent in the South is going to be in jail under those circumstances, Barkley admitted to CBS NFL Today on Sunday.
Barkley said that there is a fine line between spanking a child and child abuse.
Ive had many welts on my legs. Ive gotten beat with switches and I dont even like the term, Barkley stated. When the media talks about it, beating a child,
we called it spanking or whipping our kids.
SNIP
http://thegrio.com/2014/09/15/adrian-peterson-child-abuse-slavery/
As a black father with a four-year old son, I cannot imagine ever beating my beautiful child. I cannot and will not treat my son like a slave.
The switch is a longstanding African-American institution, both feared and revered. Everyone in the black community either has heard of or experienced firsthand the grandma who ordered the child to go fetch the tree branch, the switch that would be used in his or her own beating. They said it was necessary to keep children on the straight and narrow, out of trouble and respectful of their elders.
But what if the explanation for the switch is far more troubling? Sometimes, people act based on what they know. And in the case of the black community and the black family, we cannot disregard our very real connection to slavery times and the internalizing and perpetuation of our trauma.
We all cringe with horror, perhaps even cry, when we view depictions of brutality in films such as 12 Years a Slave. It feels far too familiar, too close to home. If we recoil at the sight of slaves being beaten, then why would we subject our own children to the same treatment? The purpose of whippings, floggings and other forms of abuse under slavery was clear to subjugate and control black people with arbitrary cruelty, beat them down not just physically but also spiritually and psychically, and reinforce the masters control over them.
SNIP
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)...everybody else.
True racial equality.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Hmmmmmm.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Look at differences when it comes to region & race
fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/americans-opinions-on-spanking-vary-by-party-race-region-and-religion/
tularetom
(23,664 posts)To borrow a question from my dear departed mom, if every black parent in the south jumped off a bridge, does that mean I should do it?
Charles Barkley is always entertaining but I'd never consult him for child raising advice.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)but disagree, I think the reasons vary w/ each "whooping".
My ex-wife did, I never approved and didn't like being around but they weren't my kids and never and still don't question the love she had for her children. My point is the reasons were all different, the last one was because the youngest stole $20, hid it, then lied about it.
On edit - She always felt depressed afterwards, I know she didn't enjoy it.
pnwmom
(108,955 posts)Jenoch
(7,720 posts)really started to become 'wrong' until the 1980s. It was common before then. I'm not speaking for what happens in the south or elsewhere, just my own observations.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)I lived in an all-white town in the South, yet there were parents there as well who would make their kids "fetch a switch". Those kinds of parents scared the crap out of me-- even though they couldn't touch me, they just seemed to be too mean and cruel.
Democat
(11,617 posts)Barkley sounds like Rush Limbaugh.