African American Fathers' Involvement in their Children's Education

Book excerpt: The literature tells us that parental involvement affects academic achievement. However, much of the literature on parental involvement focuses on the involvement of mothers with limited information about the involvement of fathers, especially African American fathers. The parental involvement literature on African American fathers is insufficient compared to their White counterparts. African American fathers do not have a “voice” in the literature on parental involvement. A racial and gender bias exists in the literature on parental involvement that marginalizes the voice of African American fathers. African American Fathers' Involvement in their Children’s Education seeks to understand the relationship that African American fathers have with the education of their children by using Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework to privilege the "voice" of African American fathers. This text focuses on the contributions that African American fathers make in the lives of their children and families, challenges the master deficient narrative, and humanizes African American fathers. This book purposefully and unapologetically portrays African American fathers as the brilliant, excellent human beings they are.