Keywords

African American marriage, fatherhood, father-child relationships, identity

Abstract

On the opening page of a recent edited volume titled Black Fathers in Contemporary American Society, Blankenhorn and Clayton (2003:1) ask, "Is any demographic fact more disturbing, more demanding of our collective attention, than the fact that the great majority of African American children do not live with their fathers?" However, they hasten to add some good news as well. The same page reads, conversely: "Is any demographic fact more hopeful, or more demanding of our collective encouragement, than the fact the proportion of African American children living with both of their biological, married parents, although still quite low, has risen significantly since 1995?"

Original Publication Citation

Marks, L. D., *Hopkins, K., Chaney, C., *Nesteruk, O., & Sasser, D. (2010). “My kids and wife have been my life”: Married African American fathers staying the course. In R. Coles & C. Green (Eds.), The myth of the missing black father (pp. 19-46). New York: Columbia University.