To condemn Adrian Peterson without considering racial context ...

[tblue]

110. And where did they learn it?

I got the switch too, when I was a little girl, from my aunt (black & raised in Depression-era Mississippi). She wasn't worried that I would get in trouble with white folks, it was just the way she knew to discipline children. She was the most loving, kindest person I have ever, ever met, so where did she learn that kind of "tough love"? From her mama, who learned it from her mama, who learned it fom her mama, who learned it from probably her "massah" or his overseer back in slavery days. That's the roots of it right there. Whippings were a cornerstone of slavery. The law & social mores today won't excuse whoopings because they used in the past. That they were used to hurt us during slavery is reason enough not to do it.

I don't think every person who whoops a child should go to jail. I'm just saying if the origins of this method of discipline are a point of discussion, then let's look at the whole picture and decide if that's a legacy we want to uphold.

Despite the whoopings, I still love my aunt more than words can say. I think she hated using the switch on me, she had such a tender heart. I never used the switch on my own kid. It never even entered my mind. I spanked him twice, only with my hand, and I still feel bad about it. Still regret it to this day.