A CNN commentator is facing criticism online after making a claim about Black fathers during a televised debate that was quickly challenged with census figures.
Ashley Allison and Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, were discussing politics Monday on “NewsNight with Abby Phillip.” Schilling argued that Democratic politicians have not served Black communities well, saying that Black voters have often backed Democrats by large margins without seeing enough improvement.
“I don’t think that voting in supermajorities for the Black community has really worked out well for them,” Schilling said. “They’re in real big trouble. The fatherlessness rate is way too high.”
Allison interrupted, saying she would fact-check him. She claimed Black fathers were more likely than other fathers to be in the household. Schilling said he did not know what she was referring to, then maintained that fatherlessness was highest in the Black community.
Allison called his statement a stereotype and noted that her own father had been present in her home. Schilling replied that her experience was anecdotal, adding that conditions for Black Americans were not good and that the Democratic Party had taken Black voters for granted.
Schilling’s point drew support from Cornel West, a Christian who describes himself as a non-Marxist socialist. Allison, meanwhile, was widely mocked online over her remarks. A video clip of the exchange received more than two million views on X.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, analyzed in a 2022 report, showed that 44.2% of Black children lived in households without a father. The figure was 24.5% for Hispanic children and 16.1% for non-Latino white children.
Former President Barack Obama also addressed the issue in a 2008 speech, saying that too many fathers were absent from their children’s lives and homes. He said the problem was particularly pronounced in the African American community, where more than half of Black children lived in single-parent households—about twice the share from when he was growing up.
