Child welfare and Social Service Agencies overwhelmingly seem to have a bias against black males. They tend to disregard the importance and the inclusion of the biological father and/or father figures in most aspects of decision-making and service delivery, better known as; "Safety, Permanence and Well Being" of the child.
Countless articles, books and data speak to the limitations of black men as viable fathers or parents. Often black fathers are not even consider when a child has to be removed from the mother and placed in Foster Care. Additionally, there is a Disparity in Social Services delivery relative to blacks in general, not mention the Father that is raising the child as a single parent.
Often our children are enduring tyrannical experiences within the system they are consigned with little to no intervention or rescue from the Black father/figure. In most cases, fathers have no idea about the child's situation. I accept the fact that many fathers just simply abandon the child because they choose not to acknowledge, accept or have fatherly or parental responsibility and/or accountability for the child and to the mother. However, there are countless others that wish to be completely connected to the child's life and life development. We have been treated as if we were dead.
In all of the materials I read, parenting is a mother's, female, woman's "thing" and the man is just not valued until and unless he meets the criteria set by a women dominate system, complete/compete with the mother's punishment plan, or he has the cash to "buy" his child from the powers that be; institutions, mothers/families and yes step-dads.
There many reasons that impact the absence of the Black Father, yet we tend to default to the negative automatically! For years Black children being placed in the Foster Care system is has been on the raise. In most of these case, the Father did not know, nor was he notified by Child Welfare Services. Remember, action and decisions are made for the Safety, Permanence and Well Being of the child! But, who 's determining what well being is for whom?
With that being said, can we dialog about the biases with these systems that impede the progress that leads us to a more holistic path to Father?
