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The Myth of the Missing Black Father. Roberta L. Coles & Charles Green (Eds.). New York: Columbia University Press. 2010. 385 pp. ISBN 9780231 143530. $29.50 (paper).
The edited volume 77?^ Myth of the Missing Black Father by Roberta L. Coles and Charles Green challenges the predominant emphasis in research literature and social policy on "absent Black fathers" by exploring African American men across diverse contexts of fathering. Coles and Green write that their aim is to "adjust the public visual lens from a zoom to a wide angle" (p. 10). Based on qualitative and quantitative studies, the chapters center on narratives of Black fathers and illustrate the complexities of fatherhood, thereby revealing aspects of African American family life that are largely invisible or understudied. What emerges is a portrait of fathers who are actively involved in supporting and parenting their children, who assert their desire to be fathers, and who through many challenges fulfill their paternal obligations. The volume also addresses limitations of current social policy with respect to supporting Black fathers.
The introduction by Coles and Green provides a historical backdrop for contemporary African American family patterns and illustrates how the myth of the missing Black father informs both public discourse and social science efforts. The editors chronicle the changes in family formation and gender roles in the United States as a result of historical, economic, cultural, and demographic transformations. They review how those transformations have affected marriage, living arrangements, and childbearing among African Americans and, thus, have shaped patterns of nonresidential fatherhood in that population. Coles and Green also highlight the challenges faced by African American fathers, who experience disproportionate rates of unemployment and poverty, low levels of education, higher mortality rates, and lower life expectancy, and who must also negotiate systemic racism and discrimination. The editors also review the extant literature on Black fatherhood to highlight the narrow lens of that work and to draw attention to the small body of work that moves beyond representations of the "missing Black father."
Part 1 of the volume focuses on the self-defined meanings and parenting practices of married fathers in community-based and national samples. Loren Marks, Katrina...