“That’s How They Label Us:” Gendered-Antiblackness, Black Fathers, and the Parenting of Black Children

Abstract

This study sought to understand how gendered-antiblackness shapes the experiences and perceptions of a group of Black working- and middle-class fathers–emanating from both the U.S. and abroad–and how this phenomenon determines their approach to, and practice of, fatherhood. I analyzed the interviews of ten Black fathers, half of whom were classified as working- or middle-class. The data are based on qualitative, in-depth semi-structured interviews, wherein findings indexed three overarching themes–racialized experiences, racialized perceptions, and fathering strategies and practices–that constitute how the participants in this study thought about fatherhood, gender, and race. Participants invoked race and racism as phenomena specific to their experiences as Black men and fathers. Additionally, participants described how their blackness and gender shaped their experientially-based definition of fatherhood and how they practice it.