The Black single father: A revolution in television for the black male image.
When it comes black fathers in television there are quite a few that are held in high regard to television fans. When it comes to Tv single dads you have some amazing ones like The Andy Griffith Show’s Sheriff Andy Taylor or Stephen Douglas from My Three Sons, Tony Micelli from Who’s The Boss, Danny Tanner from Full House etc. But this is definitely a celebration of when television finally put the spotlight on that rare beast: “The Black Single Father”, oh sure we’ve had great representation of black single mothers from Florida Evans and Willona Woods in the later seasons of Good Times or Mama Thomas from What’s Happening.
But it wasn’t until years later did the television audience be introduced to functioning, loving and dedicated single fathers of the African American descent. Beforehand most black television fathers represented the more stereotypical aspects associated with black fatherhood such as deadbeats, incarcerated or dead. We had amazing black fathers represented like James Evans Sr, Philip “Uncle Phil” Banks, Carl Winslow etc. But the idea of a black man who was single and raising a family or a child all on his own without the aide of a wife was not really showed on television until we got shows like One on One, Sister, Sister and Smart Guy paving the way for the black single father, that were very much in reality but overlooked on television to finally achieve their due. There have been quite a few since, but, this article is focusing on these three specific single daddies of black Tv.
- Ray Cambpell from Sister, Sister.
Tim Reid’s Ray Campbell was a very successful, conservative, uptight and fussy businessman who owned his own Limo service and along with his then wife adopted Tamara Campbell as an infant. After his wife passed away Ray was left to raise Tamara on his own and gave her as much love and guidance as any parent could. He was tough but loving and fair and had a very special bond with Tamara, though what makes Ray an even better single dad is how he ended up becoming a surrogate father to Tamara’s identical twin sister, Tia Landry who along with her mother Lisa moved in with Ray and Tamara after the twins found each other fourteen years later. Ray and Tia had more in common than he and Tamara when it came to education and appreciation of culture and the arts, and Ray even once objected to Tia going out with a guy he felt wasn’t good enough for her. Ray and Lisa were as loving to their girls as if they were their very own biologically and that kind of family from the black perspective wasn’t seen before Sister, Sister.
2. Floyd Henderson from Smart Guy.
Floyd had to raise three kids on his own, four if you count Mo, and did it all with style, class and old school tough love but was also the type of cool dad that all men should aspire to be. He was there for his kids whether it was just talking to them about their serious issues or anything else. One specific situation comes to mind when TJ and his friend meet a stranger on a kids internet chatroom (remember those?) who they assume is a kid and when he invites them to his house they realize that the guy is actual a child pornographer. Floyd gives TJ the type of advice, love and guidance any good father would in that situation. Floyd was a mom and a dad and did both jobs splendidly well.
3. Flex Washington from One on One.
There may not have ever been a cooler single dad than Flex Washington who was a devoted daddy by day and a player by night. When his daughter Briana first moves in with him after her mother goes to Antarctica, Flex struggles with being a full time dad but he surely rises to the occasion and develops a bond of friendship and love with his daughter as well as guard dog from all the nasty boys trying to corrupt his little girl.
These three guys repped the black single father for television and to this day their shows and their characters are still iconic of their eras and future generations of black single dads have these legends to look up to. Til next time, folks!