Father's Day was established as a national holiday in 1972, rooted in the 1960s social movements that sought to address longstanding inequalities. Originally intended to tackle issues of race and class and to support struggling family structures, the holiday emerged from the work of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who believed that maintaining family unity for Black fathers was crucial in preventing racial unrest. His controversial 1965 study, The Moynihan Report, highlighted how systemic inequalities affect family dynamics, and the implications of his findings continue to resonate in discussions about social policy today.
Father's Day's origins are tied to 1960s social movements aimed at addressing deep inequalities and the crisis of masculinity, not merely commercial interests.
Moynihan believed that helping Black fathers stay with their families was key to alleviating racial conflict, a notion he detailed in The Moynihan Report.
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