the "patriarchal" attitude of slave owners

In chapter 12 of "America, a Concise History" it mentions that plantation owners built cabins and churches for their slaves to help influence their behavior and claimed to be "paternal" characters to their slaves however; at the bottom of the page there is a black man who's injuries are so gruesome it's disgusting. To say that a slave owner who treats his slaves like that but says he is a father is abominable. If a slave owner treated his own children in that manner then he would at least be speaking the truth in saying he is a father to his slaves because they get equal treatment. However, how can a person say that they are a  father, padre, père, Vater, or any other translation of the word without acting on it with no shame. If a slave owner wants to beat his slaves why does he hide behind a mask of "fatherly love" instead of coming straight out with it and saying "yes, I beat my slaves". A man who tells the truth has more respect than a man who doesn't no matter how terrible that person may be or how grudgingly people bestow that respect upon them.