WHO WE ARE-A young single black mother has her three children with her as she tries to do shopping at the local supermarket. The eldest of her three children, aged 12, is belligerent and disrespectful while he pulls things off the shelf in the store. The mother swats the child twice with an open hand on his backside to let him know that she is not satisfied with his behavior.
Another shopper at the store sees this and calls the police. The mother is questioned and then arrested for child brutality for attempting to discipline her child. Being a single mother the children have no place to go and are therefore put into the custody of the state. Over the next six months this mother will spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours, neither of which she can afford, to deal with her attempt to discipline her own children. Further, the education of the children is disrupted because now they must go to school at a different location.
The same 12-year-old while coming home from school is accosted by two white men walking down the street who tell him to drop his books and get up against the wall. The two men tell the youth to take everything out of his pockets and put it on the ground. The young man refuses and asks the men why he should empty his pockets out just because they said so. They have not identified themselves as any government official but the 12-year-old has seen the routine before. He asked the men who they are and why they are bothering him. The two men take the youth's response as disrespectful and belligerent. The two men both over 6 foot tall and over 200 pounds grab the 12-year-old and slam him face first against a brick wall.
The bleeding youth is thrown to the ground and handcuffed with his arms behind his back. As one large man puts his handcuffs in his belt the youth sees the first signs of a police badge next to the semi-automatic handgun on the man's belt. The officers empty out the pockets of the youth and put all his belongings on the sidewalk next to him. The two men are not concerned about any negative reprecussions from their actions today. After twenty minutes the youth's handcuffs are removed and the two police officers simply leave. His money and all his possessions are on the sidewalk and his face is bleeding.
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The punishment meted out by the police officers for the perceived disrespect by the youth is protected because they are the government. The mother's attempt to discipline a child in order to give him a realistic view of the world is penalized. While parents may discipline the children with harsh language, the police may discipline your children by beating them and shooting them without any fear of consequence.
Since it is now the government that has decided how your children will be raised it should be the responsibility of the government for the ultimate behavior that child. Corporal punishment has been part of parenting America since the inception of America. Now when it comes to disciplining children the government seeks to take away the ability of a parent to discipline their own children.
A parent is arrested for a minor act of corporal punishment. At the same time a man in New York City is being choked to death by a group of policemen for the horrendous crime of selling a single cigarette. Those participating in the murder will continue to be paid and there will be no penalties for their behavior. Whose behavior has caused the greatest harm?
As a child I was subject to corporal discipline by my parents on numerous occasions. This form of punishment allowed me to understand that there are consequences to my behavior. Having been raised in New York City I'm fully aware of all the problems that a child can get into when they are not controlled by their parents. The full jails will testify to this consequence.
We must either allow parents to exercise the ability to utilize corporal punishment when deemed appropriate or restrict the ability of the government and its police force to utilize deadly force upon unarmed civilians.
(Clinton Galloway is the author of the fascinating book “Anatomy of a Hustle: Cable Comes to South Central LA”. This is another installment in an ongoing CityWatch series on power, influence and corruption in government … Corruption Watch. Galloway is a CityWatch contributor and can be reached here. Mr. Galloway’s views are his own.)
-cw