I suddenly found myself once again contemplating something that has crossed my mind ever so often over the past few months: corporal punishment amongst Afro-Caribbean peoples and other peoples of African descent, within the context of post-colonial culture. I spend quite a bit of my time deliberately trying to stay in tune with, and connected to, my thoughts, feelings and actions. I am constantly trying to undo so much of the false and traumatic programming with which I have been bombarded since birth. Needless to say, it is a task that often seems unending.
I know someone who loves to hear others say how "obedient" or "good" — among other adjectives — his Children are; he enjoys it to the point of practically singing his own praises on the marvellous job he believes he has done with them. I have met the majority of his children, and I can say that they are definitely obedient and "good", at least in the way that our society ascribes meaning to those words when it comes to children and youth. He will proudly proclaim that he is a Christian and wholly believes in biblical scripture, which includes Proverbs 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." This is the word of the Lord, as is often said after a passage from the holy book is read aloud; but is it, really?
When we reflect on the ways in which both Christianity and violence were horrifically used against enslaved Africans, how do we reconcile this reality and the adherence to such words in the rearing of our children, or in a scholastic environment? How do we, in good conscience, personally administer, or allow the administration of such violence on the bodies of our beloved children by complete strangers? When did it become perfectly all right to ignore our own historical abuses, but even worse, inflict that same abuse on our children? Do religion, misguided cultural and social norms and mores, or some absurd and warped nationalist identity, justify such cruelty?
A lot of people say, "Well, my mother — or grandmother — used to beat me when I gave trouble, and look at me! I turned out just fine!" What I inevitably often wonder is: How do you know that you are just fine? Do you mean to tell me that all of that violence inflicted upon your person during your Formative Years, in service to some notion of "obedience" or "goodness", did not traumatise you in any way, or leave psychological scars of which you may not even be aware, or which may have resulted in a lesser version of you?
Consider this for a moment: whenever someone has been through a crucible, survived some horrendous abuse or trauma on just one occasion, they are forever changed, sometimes in ways that not even they or their loved ones can fully comprehend. Now consider how repeated trauma and abuse during a person's formative years and over a period of time could then affect a person. With each trauma, a piece of the person is eroded or buried. So, are many of us, who are products of these particular cultures walking around as fragmented versions of ourselves, and not even realising it?
Here is another gem, that another friend of mine recently posted as a conversation piece: Deuteronomy 21:18-21:
"18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and [that], when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; [he is] a glutton, and a drunkard.
21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear."
I believe that one speaks for itself. However, some will hasten to say that the Old Testament is passeth away, and we are saved by grace and the New Testament is the new and current covenant, etc. Okay. Then, if the New Testament is what adherents of Christianity ought to believe and utilise, why do people still quote from the Old Testament in their efforts to justify all sorts of cruel and inhumane practices. Would a true, modern theocracy in the Caribbean, for example, permit, or even force, persons to allow others to murder their children without impunity? Would we gladly swallow and enforce such barbarism without so much as a murmur? Would our potential murmurs be proscribed and treated as "Hate Speech" or "Blasphemy" or "High Treason"? I don't know. Or, would such a system of government rely solely on the New Testament for its laws? Then again, Exodus is from the Old Testament, so would the "Ten Commandments" no longer be applicable?
I'll be the first to say that I am no theologian, but there are so many proven contradictions, mistranslations — both from a linguistic and socio-cultural perspective — that it is, admittedly, rather hard to keep track.
Here's another delightful contradiction, of which I think many people are just blissfully unaware, or which they just deliberately ignore: The people of Israel, of that time, were described in the Bible as basically being dark of skin. So... how do we reconcile the information provided in the Bible with most contemporary depictions of The Christ? Moreover, do the descriptions of his great trials and tribulations provide further historical evidence of humanity's profound hatred for Black bodies? I mean, if they could do Jesus like that, then damn! What hope could the rest of us have? Did those who sought to enslave our African ancestors accept that Jesus was, indeed, Black; and so used that narrative to support what they were doing to the Africans? I will readily admit that Black people at some points in history also did own slaves, as did Jews, and Arabs, and the list goes on into perpetuity. I will also readily acknowledge that Black people during the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans, often participated in the capture and trade of their own people, because someone will want to bring up those facts, but they do not negate the rest. Last, here's a question that might ruffle some feathers: why would God send his son, which was basically himself physically manifested on the Earthly plane, in the form of a Black male, only to be tortured and abused in such a manner? Why that form in particular, and what might that tell us about God Him/Her/Itself?
Tangent aside, I want to bring the focus back to my original concern, which is the infliction of violence upon our children. When I taught at a K-6 Preparatory School last year, some of the children who had been labelled problematic, ended up being some of my favourite children. Why is that? Perhaps, because I saw it as a welcome challenge to try to reach those that other teachers had already designated as unreachable; or perhaps, because I was once also labelled a "problem child", despite much evidence to the contrary, I could see in them what many were unable, or simply unwilling, to see in me. This is not to say that there aren't children with real mental health issues, who often require specialised assistance with their specific psychological or behavioural challenges; but this is not the case for all children.
In a matter of weeks, I had managed to earn the trust and respect of those very same "problem children", without having to utilise corporal punishment. Of course, it was not always an easy road, but in the end it was worth it, because I had managed to reach them without the use of physical or psychological abuse. I was very proud of what I had accomplished with them in the short time that I was privileged to be their teacher. The love and support of the students was well worth the effort, and I would like to believe that I managed to leave with them some tools that might help them to participate in the dismantling of certain parts of a system that does not, and should not, work for us.
A most essential component in dealing with those labelled as problematic, in my experience, is to identify the root of the behaviour, particularly within the context of how the young person identifies or views him/herself — do forgive the binary description. If one can do that, and address the young person with a real willingness to listen, and with empathy and compassion, I have found that one can truly provide the sort of assistance, and where necessary, discipline, that the young person may need. If we cannot divorce our egos from those situations, we might as well deploy the belt or whatever else is on hand, but use it on ourselves, instead; for we would have failed in our duty to aid a young person in need, and by extension, in the development of a kinder, more empathetic and overall emotionally intelligent human race.
