Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America [Paperback]

A challenge to the cultural tradition of corporal punishment in Black homes and its connections to racial violence in America

Why do so many African Americans have such a special attachment to whupping children? Studies show that nearly 80 percent of black parents see spanking, popping, pinching, and beating as reasonable, effective ways to teach respect and to protect black children from the streets, incarceration, encounters with racism, or worse. However, the consequences of this widely accepted approach to child-rearing are far-reaching and seldom discussed. Dr. Stacey Patton’s extensive research suggests that corporal punishment is a crucial factor in explaining why black folks are subject to disproportionately higher rates of school suspensions and expulsions, criminal prosecutions, improper mental health diagnoses, child abuse cases, and foster care placements, which too often funnel abused and traumatized children into the prison system.

Weaving together race, religion, history, popular culture, science, policing, psychology, and personal testimonies, Dr. Patton connects what happens at home to what happens in the streets in a way that is thought-provoking, unforgettable, and deeply sobering.Spare the Kidsis not just a book. It is part of a growing national movement to provide positive, nonviolent discipline practices to those rearing, teaching, and caring for children of color.1
A Family Conversation

2
“A Love Whupping”: Reflections on the Adrian Peterson and “Baltimore Mom” Controversies

3
Extending the Master’s Lash: The Historical Roots of Whupping Children in Black Communities

4
Would Jesus Whup a Child? Black Clergy on What Sparing the Rod Really Means

5
“You Always Were a Black Queen, Mama”: How Black Boys Who Are Whupped by Their Mothers Grow Up to Mistreat Other Black Women

6
“Talk to the Wood or Go to the ’Hooló´