Horrible, and should result in jail time.
One of the problems is that these women probably thought they were doing the right thing.African-American child discipline procedures are very harsh, even though the parents mean well.
One time, I was carrying my four-year-old daughter home from nursery school on my back, because it was easier and faster and she didn’t weigh very much. We were joking around about being hungry and she grabbed onto my collar with her teeth. And a little old black lady, who looked very sweet, came up to me and said “if she was mine I would whup her.“ I think the old lady meant well, but she just came from a whole different style of child rearing.
My kids were not brats, believe me, and I didn’t tolerate bad behavior. But African American culture seems to make impossible demands on children, especially small ones and males, and I think it’s one of the reasons there is so much anger and violence among teenagers in that community.
The adults probably mean well, but I think such harshness has a bad effect. And I say this as someone who had no problem giving the kids a swat on the bottom when they deserved it.