Fact Check: Black Fathers Are More Engaged With Children Than Other Groups. Photo by Zach Vessels on Unsplash
As the nation prepares to celebrate Father’s Day, there’s been some focus on Black fathers specifically. While mainstream stereotypes often paint Black fathers as absentee and uninvolved, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refutes that perception. Statistics show that not only are Black fathers present, but they are also more engaged in their children’s lives than their white and Hispanic counterparts.
“Black fathers (70%) were most likely to have bathed, dressed, diapered, or helped their children use the toilet every day compared with white (60%) and Hispanic fathers (45%),” according to the CDC’s 2013 study. Black fathers were also found to be more likely to help their children with homework and take them to and from activities.
The data is a far cry from what “All In” author Josh Levs dubbed “a false, pernicious myth,” which states that most black dads are absent from their children’s lives.
“Unfortunately, all sorts of statistics about fathers that are often cited by people across the political spectrum are false,” Levs wrote. “When it comes to Black dads specifically, most, in fact, live with their children. A CDC study found that about 2.5 million Black fathers were living with their children, and about 1.7 million were officially living apart from them.”
Levs also pointed to issues born from systemic racism – including mass incarceration, fatal police shootings, poverty and more – that contribute to some Black fathers being physically absent. He noted, however, that many Black fathers in jail try to stay as connected to their kids as possible.
The danger of the myths surrounding Black fathers is something journalist Charles M. Blow wrote about in 2015. “It has always seemed to me that embedded in the ‘If only Black men would marry the women they have babies with…’ rhetoric was a more insidious suggestion: that there is something fundamental, and intrinsic about Black men that is flawed, that Black fathers are pathologically prone to desertion of their offspring and therefore largely responsible for Black community ‘dysfunction,’” Blow wrote in the New York Times.
Blow added, “There is an astounding amount of mythology loaded into this stereotype, one that echoes a history of efforts to rob Black masculinity of honor and fidelity.”
Media maven Oprah Winfrey uplifted Black fathers with an OWN special entitled “Honoring Our Kings, Celebrating Black Fatherhood,” which aired on June 15. She said it something she’s been wanting to do for a while and is grateful it’s finally come to fruition.
“Why now? Because timing is always right, God is always on time,” Winfrey told ET’s Kevin Frazier. “I had this idea for several years. I wanted to elevate, lift up and show the other side of the narrative that we always hear about Black fathers not participating in their kids’ lives and Black fathers not being there.”
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Winfrey said, “I am the product of a Black father. Had my father not stepped in and taken responsibility for me, I certainly would not be sitting here talking to you, or have the life that I have. So I wanted the rest of the world to see that, to know that, to hear it, to feel it and to have Black fathers validated.”
J.R. Rivera, 35, knows about debunking the stereotype all too well. A single father to son Kyrie, 5, and daughter Azariah, 4, Rivera is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author and former teacher. He also serves as the digital community builder for BMe, an organization dedicated to uplifting Black men and women. BMe brands itself as “a community of inspired Black people from all walks of life who have committed themselves to helping our people to LOVE – an acronym for Live, Own, Vote and Excel.”
“When it comes to the focus of Black fathers, I believe that the highlight is the negative tone,” Rivera said in an exclusive Moguldom interview. “People seem to amplify the absent fathers more than they amplify the present fathers so it just sounds louder. It’s just noise basically because when you look at the statistics, it’s easy to see that Black fathers are not only bonding and building with their children but doing it at a higher rate now than in past generations. It’s evident in my life as someone who grew up without a father and many of my close friends who grew up without fathers and are now great Black fathers.”
BMe co-founder Benjamin Carlton has spoken extensively on the subject of Black fatherhood. He echoed Rivera’s words in a Moguldom interview.
“For centuries Black men have always gotten the bad rap for being absent fathers when in actuality Black dads show up for their families more than any other racial group in the entire country,” Carlton said in an emailed statement. “Black dads are loving, leading, caring, and most of all present. We must collectively work to dispel the malicious stereotype about Black fathers aimed at harming Black dads and the Black family structure.”
Carlton encouraged everyone to do their part in abolishing the harmful narratives that debase Black fathers. “The stories you tell become the life that you live. We all know strong Black fathers that go above and beyond to take care of not only their families but their entire communities. Let’s put this lie to rest for good and uplift the positive affirming narrative about Black fatherhood,” Carlton concluded.
