Charles Barkley defends Adrian Peterson — ‘We spank kids in the South’

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley defends embattled NFL running back Adrian Peterson for allegedly beating his son.

FILE - Adrian Peterson Indicted For Reckless Or Negligent Injury To A Child. Cleveland Browns v Minnesota Vikings

AS others have taken firm, black-and-white stances against child abuse in light of Adrian Peterson being indicted for allegedly beating him son, Charles Barkley has emerged as somewhat of a moral relativist.

The NBA Hall of Famer was on CBS’s “NFL Today with Jim Rome” Sunday, and while he blasted Ray Rice, vilifying any abuse of women, he took a more lenient view of Peterson’s predicament.

“I’m from the South,” Barkley gave as a disclaimer. “Whooping, we do it all the time. Every black parent in the South is going to be in jail under those circumstances. … We spank kids in the South.”

The conversation between Barkley and Rome shifted the blame from Peterson and the marks he allegedly left on his son, to whether it’s OK for others to judge his parenting.

“I don’t even like the term … ‘beating your child.’ ” Barkley said. “We call it spanking or whooping our children. … Those pictures are disturbing. Adrian said, he went overboard. But as far as being from the South, we all spanked our kids.”

Originally published as Charles Barkley defends Adrian Peterson — ‘We spank kids in the South’