I am SO sorry for all of what you and your son are going through! I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, and it is a sensitive subject to me, as I have been in abusive relationships before. I made far too many excuses for the behavior of those individuals, and I accepted far too many empty apologies that were usually followed up by more of the same (and escalating) behavior.
It's probably not very surprising that your husband's family sided with him, both because he's family and quite possibly he was raised with the same sort of physical and emotional behavior he's shown you and your son. Many abusers apologize and say their behavior was accidental. Maybe if they get help, much longer down the road, the behavior will change. Maybe it's too ingrained in them for them to change. Whatever the case with your husband, it seems to me that your protection of your son and yourself is the right thing to do. You know that physical marks aren't required for behavior to be wrong.
It's so sad that his family has used (I'm assuming from your description) racial names and has said other nasty things about you as a result of you protecting yourself and your child. That shows THEIR character and not yours. As for your son losing much of his known family as a result, I fully subscribe to what Dr. Phil says - children would rather be
from a broken home than
in one. I grew up with mental and some physical abuse from my family, and truly wish we had not grown up in that situation. It changed who I am and it changed the choices I made in men later on in life.
You are a strong, amazing woman to make the decision to end your husband's mental and physical abuse! Please don't doubt yourself because of what your husband and your husband's family has said. If your community has any sort of domestic violence organization to help counsel you and your son, please seek them out. They can help support you as you go through everything that comes next, and they can reinforce your decision to do what's best for you and your son. Vent all you need here! You'll find lots of welcoming people and lots of hugs.
I applaud you for being strong and standing up for your son and yourself! Try to stay strong and seek out the support and comfort of those people who believe in you and who lift you up! It'll be tough, but the freedom and the happiness you will find at the end of this struggle will be SO worth it.


