Atheists & Agnostics
Related: About this forumBlack Atheists Explain What It's Like to Be a 'Double Minority'
http://www.vice.com/read/black-atheists-explain-what-its-like-to-be-a-double-minority-456So what happens if you're a black atheist? Are you still black? Well, yes. To disagree implies civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates would be "less black," because they are also atheists.
But the States are still centered on Judeo-Christian beliefs, so black atheists face additional isolation. Being a black atheist gives white believers looking to discriminate another thing to hate, because "Christianity is American." Being a black atheist also makes them an anomaly to the black theist majority. And while the predominantly white atheist groups might welcome a black face, many black atheists feel their voices are obscured. Black atheist must find a way to navigate these issues while living in a country that isn't exactly inclusive towards them.
We talked to five black atheists about what it's like to be black in America and reject the the idea of a higher power. It's worth noting that although they do identify as atheists, the term only represents a fraction of their worldview. Some also refer to humanism, a wider encompassing belief that roots itself in the potential of human beings. Here's what they had to say.
Very interesting perspectives!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)Probably the only way it gets "worse"
Thanks, that was interesting.
My only minor gripe: Jamila Bey, Debbie Goddard and Siviku Hutchinson are all very high-profile atheist leaders. I'd like to hear from more, I guess, "average" black American atheists. Especially in the South. Since I re-located back here last year, I can certainly attest to the feral grip religion has on blacks and whites in Dixieland.
"Only a question of which church I attend." Yep, I hear that all the time. Not long ago I went out with a friend and his friends for pizza on a Friday night. As we were leaving, one guy turned to another and said, "I'll see you in church on Sunday." He made it sound like an order. Or possibly a threat.
Since tomorrow is Sunday, I'll probably indulge in some Recreational Xianity and spin the radio dial listening to the local old-fashioned, hellfire-and-brimstone preachers. I keep hoping they'll fulminate against atheism but no luck so far. They do frequently bash gays and Planned Parenthood, so there's that.