To condemn Adrian Peterson without considering racial context ...

[heaven05]

82. well

this is really a dicey subject for people who are not AA to understand and for those AA males and females who did get abuse from a caregiver/parent while growing up. When I got beat, it was always "beat to an inch of my life". Favorite saying of my caregiver/mother. My sister to within one half inch. I always wondered why such violence. I did learn to respect 'authority' and avoid trouble. Never been in jail or prison. Every situation outside of the racial context is unique. I know my family was. The fear a responsible black parent had/has for their male children is and always has been justified in this society.

The historical context is true and without taint. Think about an AA mother and father who has seen a black body swaying the wind for some crime invented by racists to be able to sate their lust for murder and hate of the black person. That mother and father have justified fear for their child, male usually, ending up the same manner because of lack of deference to the white person. So, psychologically they would resort to the same violence that 'kept them in line' as perpetrated by the whites on blacks. The difference being obvious, not to harm, per se, just to instill fear of 'authority' to try to keep those children alive, thus safe.

If personal family dynamics caused the child to bear the brunt of displaced anger of either parent in an unjustified violence, then that is abuse. The other, no. Just my take.