Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Fathers' Lives in Context -- PART 1. The World in Which Black Fathers Live -- 1. "There's No Such Thing as a Good Black Father": Standards of Fatherhood -- 2. Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction: Creating a Context for Black Live-Away Fatherhood -- 3. "Times Are Just Going to Get Worse . . .": Fathers Chasing the American Dream -- PART 2. Expectations of Others -- 4. "Just Be There for the Baby": What Fathers Say Others Expect -- PART 3. Being Fathers -- 6. What Fathers Say They Do as Daddies -- 7. Live-Away, but Absent? -- 8. "Ain't Nothing Like Trying to be a Father and Trying to be a Man": Barriers to Being Daddy -- Conclusion: "Got to Make Fatherhood Work for Us"--The Meaning of Fatherhood for Black Men Who Do Not Live with Their Children -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary
Absent fathers and households headed by single mothers are frequently blamed for the poor quality of life of African-American children. This book challenges these assumptions, arguing that they are largely an unfair reflection of non-working class white American values. Hamer places the behaviors of black non-custodial fathers in their social, political, and economic contexts and describes these fatherless families from the perspectives of the families themselves
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-246) and index
