Adrian Peterson, who has been deactivated by the Minnesota Vikings indefinitely after charges of child abuse, has a defender in the outspoken ex-NBA star Charles Barkley. Sir Charles, the politically incorrect juggernaut of cable TV, has come out in defense of corporal punishment in light of the Peterson case. Even while admitting that Peterson's situation was extreme, Barkley argued against the notion that spanking or whipping kids is wrong. He got into a heated debate with Jim Rome about the morality of hitting children, but Barkley's defense was simple: people from the South, and especially black people, hit their kids. And he basically said don't tell us what to do.
The ever-outspoken Charles Barkley has said since the Adrian Peterson story hit the news that corporal punishment is acceptable because it's how things have always been done where he comes from (via USA Today):
"Barkley said he understands the anger toward the Minnesota Vikings running back but said 'every black parent in the south is going to be in jail' under the circumstances that led to Peterson's indictment on child abuse charges."
However, as Jim Rome and several others have pointed out, even if that was considered acceptable at one time, the majority thinking has progressed beyond the old ways.
Aaron Gouveia writes in Huffington Post that abuse is abuse, regardless of social mores:
If this is part of your southern culture, then your southern culture condones child abuse and needs to change. If this is because you're African-American, then the black community needs some serious internal reflection and a change of heart, because this is wrong. And if this is how you were raised, well... I'm sorry for that. But just because your parents made a terrible mistake out of ignorance, doesn't mean you have to continue the violent cycle.
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