UPDATED: 6:15 a.m. ET, June 20, 2021
To mark Father’s Day in 2021, we have compiled 21 positive images of Black dads that shatter the false stereotypes with which they are wrongfully associated.
The stereotype that Black fathers are absent from their children’s lives has somehow persisted despite hard data from research that definitively says otherwise. From eating meals with their children to reading to them to playing with them to changing diapers and more, Black fathers have statistically been more involved in their children’s lives than white fathers, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
READ MORE: Black Dads Are Deeply Involved In Their Kids’ Lives
But with much of society implicitly biased against Black people as a whole and Black males in particular, sometimes seeing can compel someone to believe before reading written facts from reliable sources. That’s why NewsOne has compiled this considerable list of video examples of Black fathers doting on their children and flaunting their love by posting footage to social media of their affectionate interactions.
Many of these videos have gone viral over time, with one from 2019 that has all but become the golden standard of viral footage showcasing Black fatherhood.
The video shows a father recording a verbal exchange between him and his infant child, who is seen not speaking English but still is clearly able to communicate quite effectively with his dad. The two are shown sitting on a couch with the child speaking in, shall we say, baby gibberish — a language to which the father casually replies conversational style.
The scene shattered misconceptions surrounding Black fathers and their children and the two of them displayed the type of love for each other that is rarely associated with African-Americans in mainstream media. Even better, the father was doing his child a great service by conversationally connecting with him on such an intimate level. Studies have shown that parents consistently talking to and with their children from birth “boosts their brain power and sets them up for success at school,” the Guardian reported.
But that video was far from alone. There were dozens of others that demonstrated Black fathers expressing the same unconditional love for their children in a wide range of other activities. From fathers doing their daughters’ hair to sharing a dance routine with them to reading them books and otherwise just sharing special time with their children, the below videos were just the latest evidence that Black fathers are just as loving as other fathers, even though the CDC data suggests they are even more so than their counterparts from other backgrounds.
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Scroll down to see some of the most positive images of Black fathers and their children that mainstream media many times will gloss over in favor of portraying white dads and their children as the golden standard of male parenting.
Happy Fathers Day to all fathers who are positively involved and 100 percent engaged in their children’s lives.
