Read on Twitter
It's Father's Day, so I'm going to re-share my thread debunking the myth of the 'absent Black father.' This pathological talking point suggests the Black community suffers from a crisis of child-rearing caused by too many single-mothers & too many absent Black fathers.
Studies on Black fatherhood involvement show that that this 'absent-father' frame does not depict the experiences of the majority of Black dads & children. Not only are they involved in their kid's lives, but they're more engaged than similarly situated White & Latino dads. 2/
This study conducted by researchers w/ The Center for Disease Control conducted a survey on fatherhood involvement across 4 yrs (2006-2010). They conclude that Black fathers were more involved in cleaning, playing, & studying than White and Hispanic fathers. 3/
It's worth noting that this is only one study/data source and is over a decade old. To assuage the skeptics and present Black Father truthers, I analyzed data on fatherhood involvement collected from the more recent 2015-2017 National Surveys of Family Growth. 4/
Based on 13 questions of paternal involvement in the dataset, I created an average score of paternal involvement (lower scores= lower involvement). Consistent w/ CDC findings, Black fathers had higher scores for paternal participation than White men. 5/
I also looked at childhood fatherhood Involvement of the men In the sample. By countering claims about absent fathers, this data shows that 76% of Black men reported having their biological father or some other man fulfilling the primary role of a father in their life. 6/
I also pulled data on Maternal perceptions of paternal involvement. When asked how involved their child's fathers were, a greater share of Black mothers reported their child's fathers were involved than White and Hispanic mothers. 7/
The 72% unwed Black mother rate Is a common right-wing talking point, but this doesn't accurately capture the # of households w/ fathers present. While 18% of Black fathers are married to their child’s mother, nearly 50% cohabitate & share the same home. 8/
Left out frm discussions of unwed mothers is the # of fathers who support & live w/their children. Only focusing on the unwed rate allows space for arguments about the superfluousness of Black men & the pathological blame of Black mothers for the state of the Black community. 9/
This ongoing struggle to fully counter the absent father trope aid ruling class objectives which seek to reproduce and entrench these anti-black narratives to furthering the pathologization of Black motherhood & fatherhood, all of which do collective harm. #BlackFathersMatter.
