“What I’ve realised is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children, all of our children, a better world. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”

— Barack Obama.

Fatherhood, especially black fatherhood, oftentimes is not as celebrated as it should. As a result, we continue to hear the arguments surrounding Edith Clarke’s My Mother Who Fathered Me. There are specific roles concerning the sexes, and frankly speaking, mothers cannot father children; likewise, fathers cannot mother children. Indeed, as a society we need to move the discussion away from these oxymorons.

This flawed premise has been around so long and, unfortunately, has become normalised in many societies. However, the time has come for us to have a serious and honest discussion, as this argument must be interrogated and replaced with a sense of responsibility. In fact, there is one myth, especially in the United States of America, that purports that black masculinity is toxic, harmful, and dangerous. This idea is rooted in racism and is responsible for a number of murders of black men by law enforcement.

We are all aware that some men who have biologically fathered children have been absent in their lives. Undoubtedly, this has led to some sections in the society not giving much support to Father’s Day and all that it entails. However, the discourse surrounding fatherhood must take a critical look at the impact of enslavement on black men and how centuries of enslavement have reshaped the narrative of black fatherhood.

Libra Hilde shows in her book, Slavery, Fatherhood, and Paternal Duty in African American Communities over the Long Nineteenth Century, that black and enslaved men were loving, involved, and emotionally invested in their children despite the barriers erected by white society. Hilde, who is an associate professor in history, establishes the constraints that slavery put on black men’s ability to father. She then highlights how enslaved and free black men supported their families through the provisioning of food and clothing, the purchase of their loved ones from enslavers, escape from slavery, and the formation of identity within a climate of fear and sexual exploitation.

Hilde contends that caretaking was a form of resistance for enslaved men, as they attempted to covertly imitate the paternal role of their black enslavers. However, like any robust intellectual discourse, there are counter positions. Slavery did much more than physical damage to the black man and, by extension, his family. The period of enslavement was not only inhumane but responsible for a culture of emasculation of the black man. It was a regular practise to separate families upon arrival in the Americas. Families were literally pulled apart and sold to different plantation owners. This obviously was a calculated move to dehumanise black men.

During slavery the black man was not viewed as a whole, he was valued for his reproductive abilities. Some will argue that the black man was solely seen as a stud. Although many slave narratives and journals address female rape and other forms of sexual assault, the abuse endured by male slaves has been grossly overlooked. Male slave owners used sexual assault to dominate, dehumanise, and emasculate male slaves.

Slavery was both an economic and human trafficking venture. Slave breeding was the practise during the period of enslavement, forcing slaves to have children to increase the wealth of the slave owners. The strong sense of identity, which was a feature of African society, was deliberately attacked and taken away. For example, the names which the Africans were given at birth, which identified who they were and the tribe to which they belonged, were replaced by the names of the slave masters. Many descendants of enslaved Africans today have names of former slave owners. The family as an institution was purposefully destroyed. It was easier to control those who were enslaved by creating an environment in which they were isolated from their past and culture with no identity of self.

Matrifocality

Matrifocality was a term coined in 1966 by anthropologist Raymond T Smith in his study of working-class African Caribbean families in British Guiana. It is no coincidence that most of our black families in the Americas are matrifocal.

Matrifocal is defined as a family unit headed by the mother and lacking a father permanently or for extended periods. This type of family structure has survived in post-slavery societies and is problematic. Research has indicated that children perform better academically when fathers are present.

As an educator you can easily identify the students who are from a nuclear family. These students tend to display fewer maladaptive behaviour and are more academically grounded. Studies have indicated that the poverty level is also lower among nuclear families. The construction of the matrifocal family is predicated on the absence of fathers, as a result, the nuclear family was not normalised during slavery or in post-slavery societies. This was yet another attack on fatherhood, black fatherhood, and masculinity.

Reimaging Black Fatherhood

While we cannot discount that family unions existed during the period of enslavement, we must be mindful of the challenges, especially because enslaved Africans were viewed as chattel or property of their white masters. As a consequence, black men were oftentimes told who to mate with and this again served to render them helpless and powerless during this chapter of black history.

But we must give credit where it is due. A number of young black fathers have been playing tremendous roles in the lives of their children. It has become commonplace to see fathers pushing their strollers with their babies. Positive fatherhood should be highlighted and celebrated. We must also call out negative fatherhood and encourage fathers who, for whatever reasons, have not been taking care of their responsibilities to do so. A sore point regarding fatherhood is that of child support. As a society we must encourage fathers to take this responsibility seriously. In the same way your needs are being met, do remember that your children are depending on you.

Co-Curricular Education

The time is now for us to not only look at how subjects such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are taught in our schools. The education system needs to revisit to what extent co-curricular activities can be introduced to assist our boys to become better fathers. Education, as one of the primary sources of socialisation, continues to serve the ruling class disproportionately, and this is a problem.

There is a call to action to revisit the construction of Caribbean masculinity, which, to some extent, still celebrates multiple partners. This notion is further reinforced in popular culture. We all have been impacted by the education system at various points. For some, the impact was at the primary level, while for others, it was at the secondary level.

The Church also has a huge role regarding the interrogation of black fatherhood. This is especially so given that the Bible was misused at various intervals to justify slavery. “When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” (Genesis 9: 24-25)

Without a doubt, more investments are needed in terms of putting on workshops and mentorship programmes for our boys. Governments, especially in the Americas, must revisit and realign their education systems to do more in terms of rescuing our boys. There is an urgent need for Caribbean governments to ‘decolonise’ the curricula in order to create a more responsive and inclusive education system. We need to work towards a society that is caring and share best practices. The international community pauses on Father’s Day on June 16 to celebrate the significant role being played by men in shaping and raising their children. We celebrate you fathers who continue to support and journey with your families. Your role as a father is irreplaceable.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and/or gender issues. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or waykam@yahoo.com.