What does Richard's father come to represent in Richard's life?

Richard's father represents absentee fathers of black children. Richard’s father deserted the family when Richard was quite young. He does not play a role in Richard’s life, but Richard resents him and blames him for their poverty and hunger. Many years later Richard visits his elderly father who is living on a plantation. He realizes their lives are light years apart, and that his father is, pathetically, a product of the segregated South.