Why Single Fathers Deserve Praise On Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day may just be one of the celebrated holidays known to American culture. (As it should!) I mean, really, this day of thanks shouldn’t be restricted to just 24 hours, but how else would we show our appreciation with expensive restaurant food, cheesy Hallmark cards, rides on the Philadelphia Spirit or endless bouquets of flowers. We use this time to thank our Queens for being there for our first step, dance recital, championship basketball game, first heartbreak, and so on. We also owe our success for being both the mother and father in a generation where single-parent households are more common.

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Our mothers never cease to amaze us with making sure all of our Christmas gifts make it from our precious list to under the tree, or making sure we get to school with the hottest gear while paying all the bills and then some. We live in a time where it’s very normal for our mothers to do all of this single-handedly without missing a beat and still looking fabulous as they do so.

But what about the opposite family structures out there where fathers are filling in not just their role but the role of the mother as well? This set up is hardly ever talked about because of the common misconception that African-American households are typically absent of a strong male force. A recent study in 2011 by the 2011 Census Bureau reported that an overwhelming 64% of African-American families are missing the role of the father.