Imagine getting beaten up every time someone makes a mistake. Imagine not being beaten and only later being killed for making one of these mistakes. Imagine loving this individual. Now imagine that you are the one who beats this person for his protection. This is the complex situation of many in the African American community. It consists of using physical discipline as a method of protection and discipline. Many parents with children of color often go to great lengths to make sure their child is well disciplined. Discipline is the practice of training someone to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. The disciplinary method of choice for many in black societies is physical discipline. However, there are some who, just like the adage, prevention is better than cure, many African American parents hoped to prevent an incident where their child would be disciplined by America. In this attempt parents would ensure that their child is disciplined beforehand. The method used was physical discipline, a lesser wrong than that of American discipline. As he recalls the first time his father physically disciplined him, Coates recalls that “Maybe that saved him.” Maybe not” (16). As a child, it is not possible to fully understand the severity and pain of a parent hitting their child. It's only when Coates becomes a parent himself that he understands the complexities of parenting a child of color. Coates explains: “I now personally understood my father and the old mantra: 'Either I can beat you or the police.' I get it all... Black people love their children with some sort of obsession. You are all we have and you come to us in danger” (82). Coates, now an adult, understood both the love and fear his father felt when he beat him. Furthermore, Coates understood from his childhood experiences that growing up as an African American male in America is dangerous and unforgiving. Police brutality is the strong weapon America uses to discipline young African American adolescents who do not comply with their demands. Cooper makes note of this use of brutality by America when he discusses the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson. Cooper