As most of you know, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama decided to mark Father's Day by bashing fathers, particularly black fathers. Obama said fathers have "have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men." He is pictured above during the speech.

The Associated Press article on the speech is here. The speech itself is much harsher, and can be viewed here.

I just did an interview on KFYI AM 550 in Phoenix about this issue, and a few of the points I made are below:

1) Obama put all blame for family breakdown squarely on men. This is beyond ludicrous. It's doubtful that many dads wake up in the morning and say to themselves, "My child loves me and needs me, my wife/girlfriend loves me and needs me--I'm outta here."

Despite the stereotype of the feckless and irresponsible male, research shows that the vast majority of divorces as well as many break-ups of unmarried couples are initiated by women, not by men. Yes, some mothers have good reasons for these breakups. Yet, as Jonetta Rose Barras, the African-American author of Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl, explains, many black fathers are simply being "kicked to the curb."

Another major part of black fatherlessness is that the women often have kids without ever having any intention of having a father in the kids' lives.

2) The Urban League's 2006 report on the state of black America concluded that the child support system and its abuses often drive African-American men out of their children's lives, and either underground or into crime. To learn more about that report's findings, see my co-authored column Hillary Clinton’s Youth Opportunity Agenda Will Help Low-Income Fathers (Black Press USA Network, 1/25/08).

3) When a divorced or separated mother does not want her children's father around anymore, she can usually push him out, particularly if the father does not earn enough money to pay for legal representation. Courts tilt heavily towards mothers in awarding custody, and enforce fathers' visitation rights indifferently. In most states, mothers are free to move their children hundreds or thousands of miles away from their fathers, often permanently destroying the fathers' bonds with their children.

4) The benefits that involved black fathers--even divorced or separated ones--can provide their children are substantial. For example, a recent study of low-income African-American and Hispanic families by Boston College found that when nonresident fathers are involved in their adolescent children's lives, the incidence of substance abuse, violence, crime, and truancy decreases markedly. The study's lead author, professor Rebekah Levine Coley, says the study found involved nonresident fathers to be "an important protective factor for adolescents."

5) Obama's comments are pandering, using the specter of the absent/deadbeat dad as a way to curry favor with women voters. He has made these types of claims at various times over the past year or so, but this is the most highly-publicized and hostile.

I would also add that in our tendency to put all absent fathers--particularly black ones--in the "deserter/deadbeat" category, we often misclassify fathers who either were not absent or did not desert their families. A couple prominent examples can be found in my blog posts Dick Allen & the Misleading 'Paternal Abandonment Script' and The Bronx Is Burning, Billy Martin, & the Misleading 'Paternal Abandonment Script'.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Fatherhood, African-American Issues, Racism. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.