Fatherhood, Race, and the American State

An argument that the major reason for White patriarchy’s endurance lies in the political regulation of fatherhood

White men continue to wield disproportionate political power in the United States, even as women enter politics in higher numbers and as the nation becomes increasingly racially diverse. White patriarchy remains an enduring model of political authority, one that its adherents defend fiercely in court cases and policy battles. H. Howell Williams argues that a major reason for White patriarchy’s endurance lies in the political regulation of fatherhood.

At key moments in American political history, and in response to efforts to expand the political community to include women and people of color, political actors fretted over how the government treated fathers, worrying that some non-White fathers were not performing their patriarchal duties sufficiently while the government was unfairly harsh on other fathers, usually White fathers of reasonable means. Their concerns, or “patriarchal anxieties,” inspired these actors and sympathetic constituencies to advocate for state intervention via one of three policy solutions: to uplift and help struggling fathers, to punish deficient fathers, or to leave fathers alone to govern their families. Through an exploration of these policy approaches, Williams demonstrates how patriarchal anxieties shaped the state’s response to perceived crises in fatherhood. While these policy approaches were ostensibly race- and gender-neutral, Williams reveals that political advocates’ efforts to regulate fatherhood were really attempts to bolster White American patriarchy and protect its dominance.

By examining men’s policy goals, White women’s support for White patriarchal policies, and political actors’ strategic investment in White patriarchy, Fatherhood, Race, and the American State argues for a new understanding of the family as a political institution, one that centers the significant role the state plays in defending, shaping, and entrenching a narrow vision of the American family.