We often talk about fatherhood in our humble shop because family is one of the essential pillars of Liberty and active fathers are critical for healthy families.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, and one of the ways CNN recognized the occasion was an inspirational story in its “Life, But Better” section. The title certainly is uplifting: “Black dads are more likely to play, dress and share a meal with their child, data shows.”

The data seem to back it up:

Seventy percent of Black fathers who live with their children were most likely to have bathed, dressed, changed or helped their child with the toilet every day, compared with their White (60%) or Hispanic (45%) counterparts, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 National Health Statistics Report.

Those Black fathers were also most likely to have eaten a meal with their children, the data showed.

There’s just one problem. It’s fake news.

Not entirely, of course; there’s a lot of legitimate good news in the story. For example, CNN’s “science and wellness” writer, Madeline Holcombe, features the community work of the Black American Dad Foundation, notes how important it is for fathers to be engaged at home, and tells stories of several black men who were positively impacted by active dads.

All of these things are true or needed. Featuring the work of a seemingly good foundation that aims to change the way black fathers see themselves and are seen by others could play a big role in changing things for the better. And heaven knows we need more good news.

But arguably the key information in that first quoted paragraph is this phrase: “Black fathers who live with their children.” Sadly, that does not describe the vast majority of black families, which makes Holcombe guilty of little more than cherry-picked statistics for the purposes of propaganda.

As our “fact-checker” friends might say, Holcombe’s claim is “missing context.” Here’s some of that context: Asians have the highest rate of kids living with their fathers at 84%. Next is whites at 77%. Yet just 37% of black kids live with their dads.

We wish it weren’t so, but that seems to undermine the premise that black fathers are models of involvement.

There are at least two significant reasons for the unfortunate and socially destructive truth that most black dads are absentee fathers. First, the federal government’s “Great Society” is one big financial incentive for single moms and a lot of Democrat votes. Second, it’s now a self-perpetuating cycle, as fatherless boys tend to become absentee “baby daddies” themselves.

That is, in part, an intentional goal.

Back in September 2020, in the wake of the summer of Black Lives Matter riots, crime, and murder to “protest” George Floyd’s death, we discovered that BLM’s official website had quietly removed some anti-family language from its website. The organization’s Marxist goal? “Disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure” by replacing families with “‘villages’ that collectively care for one another.”

CNN’s Holcombe conveys the same thinking: “Even when a biological father isn’t present, the role can be filled by other men who care about the child — an important concept in African American culture.” Clearly, Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village model is prevailing.

Strong communities are great, but often what happens among widespread fatherlessness is an inner-city culture of poverty, drugs, gangs, and violence. Thousands of blacks are murdered by other blacks every year. Thousands more commit other crimes that land them in jail.

Holcombe sees this as systemic racism. “Given the history of racism in the United States,” she writes, “some Black fathers may face disproportionate incarceration rates or have difficulty in obtaining jobs to provide for their families.” Disproportionate criminal behavior can lead to incarceration. That’s not racism.

We’d have a better and stronger country if Holcombe’s portrayal of black fathers was actually widely true. We’d see the same result if more black families believed, as Holcombe recommends, that two-parent homes are worth building. So, here’s hoping that this becomes more than statistical manipulation and wishful thinking.