Questioning are Black Fathers Deadbeat Dads?

An early morning content scroll on Facebook can lead to the reading of many seemingly hot and controversial debates. A big one visited over and over is whether or not Black Males are actually deadbeat dads. Despite arguments, there aren't many things other than opinion used in offense or defense of this disposition. These debates craved actual evidence as a whole as to whether or not this sentiment was in fact true or just bias. This is something that had to happen in order for a clear and decisive answer to be had, one free of opinion and based sorely on fact.

Robert Mungo was a ready and willing subject. He is a man whose actions challenge the presumption of Black males as deadbeats. Robert is not only a father that is raising three children, one of whom lacks any blood connection to him. He is a man that has taken on a sole parental role. The mother of his three having disappeared on her children over 6 years prior, without any contact with her children or him.

A couple hours spent at his residence, catching photographs of him and his family while conversing about the intricacies of being a solo parent from the opposite spectrum planted a detailed picture. Asking specifically, how he handled the day to day with bare minimum of help, he responded "I just make it happen. I don’t have the time or luxury of thinking about who is or isn’t going to help. My kids have needs and I have to fulfill them. That’s being a father, a daddy, or whatever you want to call it!”.

Passion expressed itself in multiple forms over the course of a couple hours. Anger, aggravation, happiness, love, and peace all rendered themselves tangible in this world. The children would go from argumentative to playful all within the space of a couple minutes. And Robert would handle it calm and poised when permissible, and other times he would respond out of aggravation with heightened vocals. The children's reaction speed coincided with the tone of voice used. This showed that fatherhood like parentage in general, was systematic. When asked if "single father" was a term that he ever thought would apply to him? He just shrugged and smiled. “Well, you don’t wake up planning to be a single father, it just happens. And you deal with it. What can I say? You either handle your business or you don’t!”. A couple of great photos and an innate understanding ended this visit with a look at statistics from the CDC report on fatherhood. A statistic report that states that Black men were more likely to be involved in day to day parenting when living in the house with their children than males of any other race. They also were the least likely to report not being involved with their children when living out of the residence with their children, though they have the highest number of children born out of wedlock. That tidbit was interesting to say none the least.

. A short distance away lived a guy named Johnnie Parker Jr. who lived with his two children. Johnnie's story is similar to that of Robert’s, except for that the fact that Johnnie is less than half of Roberts age. Johnnie also raises children without their mother.

Johnnie's story differs because in his house the children are being raised by two generations of males. His Father resides there as well, according to Johnny. At the mention of their grandfather both children smiled warmly, as they continued on their daily dutiful chores of cleaning their room. Once again, the motions of fatherhood played out while a couple of pictures were taken. The house's atmosphere shifted from one of work and duty to one of parental intimacy. Johnnie spoke to his children in a loving and compassionate way. Their responses were of the same color. They adored their father. And it was clear to see why when Johnnie did something that plenty of people speak of fondly, in my own childhood. He had story time with his children.

Well wishes were exchanged and the visited ended. A call was received from Robert, who told me his son is interested in the article. A call was made and a meeting scheduled with him after reading Black Fathers are Doing Best Of All; an article from 2015 in the New York Times by Charles M. Blow. Blow is clear on his position in this debate as being in support of the black father and even references the CDC report. The night ended. And the morning started with the reading of an excerpt from Fathering From the Margins: An Intimate Examination of Black Fatherhood by Aasha M. Abdill, where she quotes both Eggebeen and Coles stating that the number of Black father's outside of the home has definitely increased since the 1950s. She states that this line of thinking is perhaps a monumental force in the outlook of the black male as a deadbeat dad, despite the statistics reporting different. This is took in as Travon's neighborhood comes into view. In the parking lot, he and his young family are enjoying the outdoors. A smile crossing the lips of this otherwise serious man on multiple occasions as he washed his daughter traverse the sidewalk on her hoverboard.

Eyeing this family, the question of are Black Males truly deadbeats flitters through the air? There is a smile followed by goodbyes, but the question is never answered. Why not? Because every question doesn't deserve a response.