That thing you’re doing, where you defend child abuse along cultural lines, please stop it. Adrian Petersons’ actions are not a referendum on how an entire culture disciplines their children. So you don’t have to defend it thusly. And if you are connecting his actions to something traditional that supposedly the rest of us don’t get, just take a deep breath and realize that’s utter nonsense.
I’m convinced many vocal supporters of Mr. Peterson decided they didn’t need to read the details. Except, that the details are all that matters in this case. This is not about spanking, or how group A raises their children versus how group B does it. This is about blood being drawn, genitals being injured, and multiple abrasions – all of that on a four year old child. I’d rather folks just say, ‘You know what- I’m okay with ALL of that” as opposed to saying he was wrong but he didn’t know any better. Because, ( wait for it…) this was how he was raised! Please stop it.
This is also a slippery slope. One that I reject. If we are going to be apologists for the actions of those who use ‘It’s how I was raised’ as an excuse then we better rethink how angry we get at racists. I mean, after all, babies aren’t bigots, so something happened during the course of their being raised-something was repeated, or taught, fused to the very marrow of that person who now walks amongst us harboring those intense feelings of hate.
Sorry, I’m not going for it. I don’t care what you’re Grand-pappy told you about the ‘coloreds’- you will get no safe haven here. The effort it takes to remain in a cocoon of ignorance vastly exceeds the minimal effort required to understand that no one deserves to be judged based on their ethnicity.
And if your defense of Adrian Peterson goes like this- “Well, what about the white father who just killed his 5 children”? You’re doing it wrong. He should spend eternity in hell, immediately if not sooner. But unless you think all white parents are murders then what’s the point? Mr. Peterson, in my opinion, didn’t fail as result of something cultural; he failed because his ignorance opened the door to something criminal, and he absolutely should have known better.
National stories are never solely about the main actors- this is about all of us. It’s also about a troubling trend that has far too many participants of all races. A trend wherein the idea of taking personal responsibility for ones actions is often the last resort.