A closer look at the Adrian Peterson case: What does it say about children being raised by African Americans who are also conservative Christians?
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While the media seems largely focused on the fact that the Minnesota Vikings finally decided to bench its star running back, a darker, and more important, question is being overlooked:
To what extent did Adrian Peterson’s religious beliefs and cultural background as an African American contribute to him beating and severely injuring his son?
Many details about the case have been well publicized and have not been denied by Peterson: Last spring, he “disciplined” his four-year-old son at his Houston home by stuffing leaves in his mouth and hitting him repeatedly with the branch of a tree or “switch.” The “whooping” resulted in the boy sustaining lacerations on his legs, arms, buttocks, and genitals. The injuries were reported by a doctor after the boy’s mother took him for a previously scheduled appointment. Upon questioning, the child told his mother that Peterson “likes belts and switches and has a whooping room.”
After intense public pressure, the cancelation of a major NFL sponsor, apparent threats by other companies to cancel sponsorship, and the news that Peterson had been accused of abusing another son in 2013 (Peterson was not charged in that case), the NFL changed course. Instead of simply suspending Peterson from two games, which they had decided to do when the indictment was made public, officials barred him from all team activities. Some surmise that he will never again wear a Vikings jersey.
It probably was not helpful to Peterson’s cause that after the initial slap on the wrist, he sent out this tweet, indicating that God was on his side.
If you could only see how God views you! Just understand that you are a Mighty Vessel that God Chose to do Great things… You were built to go through and leave the state of a Rock and become a Diamond… Don’t allow any Distractions to knock you off Course! Pray and Keep Moving! God Bless!
There’s no doubt that the 29-year-old Peterson considers himself a Christian. His Twitter feed is peppered with religious proclamations and snapshots of Bible verses. He seems to wholeheartedly believe that children should be disciplined using physical punishment. What’s more, it’s likely that his religious beliefs—and his African American background—have fueled his intense ideology about the need to control children’s behavior in this way.
Corporal punishment among conservative Christians
Americans overall have been spanking less and less. The percentage of parents who favor corporal punishment has dropped from 84 percent in 1986 to about 70 percent in 2012. Many Christians choose not to spank their kids. In fact, those who opt for more peaceful parenting approaches are quick to point out that, according to the Bible, Jesus never advocated that children should be taught respect through hitting. On the other hand, conservative Christians tend to believe that their religion requires them to spank. Many justify this choice by referencing numerous passages in the Book of Proverbs that condone using “the rod” to discipline children.
For example, Proverbs 23:13—14 states: “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death.”
Some Christians also see the need to use corporal punishment to correct children’s inherent “sinfulness.” Days after Peterson was indicted on child abuse charges, a psychologist and minister of the conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family wrote an op-ed in Time magazine declaring,
Unfortunately, each of us enters this world with desires that are selfish, unkind, and harmful to others and ourselves. Spanking, then, can be one effective discipline option among several in a parents’ tool chest as they seek to steer their children away from negative behaviors and guide them toward ultimately becoming responsible, healthy, happy adults.
Does this mean that conservative Christians are more likely to abuse their children than other parents? No. However, a vast majority of child abuse is delivered in the midst of adults using corporal punishment. And children are more likely to be injured when parents use corporal punishment frequently or use implements to spank children.[1] Then there is the dangerous potential that exists in some households where parents are ardent followers of Christian leaders who promote spanking. Tragically, three children have died at the hands of adoptive parents who followed the advice of controversial Tenneesse preacher Michael Pearl. (All parents and Pearl are white.)
Corporal punishment among African Americans
Similarly, African Americans in the US also tend to rely heavily on the use of corporal punishment. One that looked at the childrearing of kindergartners shows that 89 percent of black parents spanked compared to 79 percent of white parents. According to a New York Times op-ed written by Georgetown University Sociology Professor and author Michael E. Dyson, the belief among African Americans that they must discipline their children using physical punishment is inherited from the days of slavery.
The lash of the plantation overseer fell heavily on children to whip them into fear of white authority. Terror in the field often gave way to parents beating black children in the shack, or at times in the presence of the slave owner in forced cooperation to break a rebellious child’s spirit. Black parents beat their children to keep them from misbehaving in the eyes of whites who had the power to send black youth to their deaths for the slightest offense.
Dyson goes on to say, “If beating children began, paradoxically, as a violent preventive of even greater violence, it was enthusiastically embraced in black culture, especially when God was recruited. As an ordained Baptist minister with a doctorate in religion, I have heard all sorts of religious excuses for whippings.”
Defending Peterson
This association might explain why a number of black athletes have come to Peterson’s defense, often stating that the kind of beating Peterson gave his son is not all that uncommon among blacks. NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has said corporal punishment is a way of life among the black, southern culture. “Whipping, we do that all the time. Every black parent in the South is going to be in jail under [Peterson’s] circumstances,” Barkley stated in an interview on NFL Today.
On a New York radio broadcast, Lions running back Reggie Bush said he and many of his friends were punished in the same way as Peterson chose to do with his son and that he would “harshly” punish his one-year-old daughter if need be. “I definitely will try to—will obviously not leave bruises or anything like that on her,” Bush said. “But I definitely will discipline her harshly depending on what the situation is.” Initially Bush said he’d consider using a switch but then said he misspoke. “I said spanking,” he said. “Spanking is different than a branch or a stick.”
Peterson’s tweets of passages from the Bible seem to indicate that this type of discipline is the norm in his household and the community of his upbringing and implies that God himself has given Peterson the authority to abuse his children. Although Peterson has since shown remorse for his actions, he has also repeatedly defended his decision to “discipline” his child, calling it an act of love. On the day of his indictment, he told investigators, “I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent.”
It’s safe to say the conversation about the morality of corporal punishment is not over. Unfortunately, it took a high-profile case of severe child abuse to begin a meaningful public discussion on this topic. But in addition to debating the pros and cons of physical punishment, we should also examine the religious and cultural roots of spanking among conservative Christians and in the African American community. Only then do we have a chance to protect children such as the son of Adrian Peterson.
Janet Heimlich is the author of “Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment” (Prometheus Books) and Executive Director of the Child-Friendly Faith Project.
[1] Janet Heimlich, Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment (Prometheus Books, 2011) p. 76, 78.
