Hi Ryan, I couldn't disagree more strongly with this. Intervening is stopping child abuse. Full stop. There's no sliding scale depending on the skin colour of the person hitting their child. There's nothing unique about black culture that makes black people hitting their children okay.

In fact, I'd argue that the idea that black people should be held to a differnt standard is racist. I've personally stopped a black mother from hitting her child in public, and I'd do the same if it was a white mother or an Asian mother. The key to not being racist is treating everybody the same way, even when we're condemning their behaviour.

Sorry if I sound strident here. I'm not accusing you of being racist, and I understand that you're trying to be sensitive. Also, I'm sure that as a teacher, intervening with parents carries a lot of employment politics. Parents hitting their children just really disgusts me. And anybody who suggests that you'd be acting in a racist manner if you stopped a black parent from doing so is deeply confused about what racism is.