Stacey Patton's book, "Spare the Kids", has led to spirited debate among parents. Some say Black children need physical discipline to inculcate self-discipline necessary to prevent them from being victims of white supremacy. Others say it is carrying on a legacy of white supremacy and causing permanent harm to children - creating trauma that causes the exact negative outcomes parents seek to prevent. 

In this conversation, Rasheem (a parent) and Larence (not a parent) talk about the research and their personal experiences with physical discipline and seek to understand why, despite research on the empirical harms of physical discipline, so many Black parents feel it is a part of a necessary part of raising Black kids. 

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