Being raised by a single mother myself in a situation where my biological dad was a non factor in my life by choice, and being around kids who did have fathers involved in their lives made my childhood quite difficult for me.
I’m of the opinion that a positive male role model is a plus in any kid’s life, but especially a boy’s. A guy can teach a boy to do things that women usually can’t, and can give them advice from a more realistic perspective since they had faced the same issues as a male child themselves.
I don’t believe that all male role models are good, and I’ve seen many dads destroy their boys and make them more violent by instilling negative hypermasculine traits in them. One of my sister’s best friends is in this situation currently, where the father has turned a once decent boy into a psychopathic jerk once he won custody of him. Sometimes the kid is better off with a single mom when the male in question is a negative role model. I still think it’s better though when a kid has a positive male and female influence in their lives.
I think black fathers do get an unfair bad rap many times, and many do want to be involved in their child’s life. This is why I’m not a fan of sexual promiscuity personally, since I think this creates more problems then it solves, and most people that I’ve known don’t even do it responsibly. I’ve found it to be so sad when many girls I had known within the past 20 years don’t even know who the father of their kid is.
The problem is a two way street, and I’m not just blaming the women here. As much as people argue with me here on some of these issues, I’m yet to see anything positive result from the lifestyles I tend to criticize. I guess I’m conservative on this issue, but not for religious reasons, but from my personal experiences.