Hey Lila, hey ha ha. So Lila, I have a question. Were you whooped as a child?

Whoopens. Yes, I was. In fact, I have a version right now to fly swatters because that was

sometimes used to give me a little smack on the thighs. Or those paddles, you know, those

paddles with the ball on them and the elastic, you know. Yes, those paddles of bouncy paddles.

Yeah, I do remember every now and then that paddle to wave it came. Something that I was afraid of.

What about you? Were you, were you spanked? I wasn't whooped. My siblings were. Like I saw

that belt come out. But it was, it was never for me. I got kind of like just like talking to,

but I never got really spanked. I never got really whooped. But my brothers, they got that

belt. They definitely got that belt. And people have been talking about how we should or shouldn't

discipline our kids for a while. It's not a new conversation. Right. I mean, there are a lot of

thoughts and feelings about this. And debates over corporal punishment are definitely not new

in black communities. It was the Thursday of a leap year. The air was crisp. The sky was blue.

And the belt was black. I don't want to hear anymore. Not even about the color of my tears,

they were red. Ah! Okay, don't be mean. He's scared. He should be. It's terrifying. I mean, not

for me. I'm too old to be spanked. I've aged out. Where'd you hear that, June? Well, I mean,

I'm 13 now. That means I'm out of a whooping window. Yeah, but you still haven't asked, don't you?

This episode of Blackish from 2014 talks about what we're saying. Now, the dad here is conflicted

about using a belt to whoop his son. Now the granddad, he's less conflicted.

An ass is an ass is an ass is an ass is an ass.

Here's a question. If I'm a parent, how do I know where the line is between that pop

and abuse? And is that pop considered abuse? We got to stoop this.

The stoop. The stoop. The stoop? Stories coming across the black diaspora.

...