Where Are All the Black Atheists?

[rug]

While the number of the religiously unaffiliated is rising, African Americans make up only 9 percent of them. Most African Americans are certain there is a God.

BY: BISHOP MCNEILL
Posted: October 23, 2016

I am black. I am also an atheist.

It’s understandable if that surprises you.

You’ve probably heard that the number of religiously unaffiliated people is rising. According to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, the percentage of Americans who identify as “unaffiliated,” or “religious nones,” is currently 22.8 percent. That’s a huge increase from only 16 percent in 2007.

However, this growth is not happening as rapidly in one notable sphere: the black community.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/10/where-are-all-the-black-atheists/

https://blacknonbelievers.wordpress.com/

[bravenak]

1. Many of us are not religious about atheism and so are not noticed.

[rug]

2. Online, at least, it seems to me conformity is valued over diversity.

[stone space]

6. Fundamentalists of all stripes tend to drown out other voices with their volume, I'm afraid.

Many of us are not religious about atheism and so are not noticed.

At least that's how it seems on the internet.

[whatthehey]

3. Same place as the black gay men

A culture which promotes and expects overt religiosity and traditional masculinity.

There's a reason the "DL" jargon came from the black not white gay community. The same need for that mindset applies to black atheists.

[rug]

5. You're blaming black culture while ignoring the predominantly white culture of western atheism.

There is no nonracist reason to assume there are proportionately less black atheists because they are black. There are many reasons to explain why the values of current atheist movements and communities are not particularly attractive to black atheists without blaming black culture.

[whatthehey]

7. Utter twaddle

For a start there is no ethically normative issue here so words like blame are irrelevant. There is a greater social expectation of conformity to religious and gender norms however which both disincentives excursion and perhaps more notably admission of excursion. There is not a single sociologist of note who would disagree and you are either being obtuse or responding to the author not the statement here.

[rug]

8. There are empirical norms and there are reasons for the lack of diversity.

You can frame it as an "ethically normative issue" and a "disincentives excursion" but quasi-academic jargon won't change those facts.

So, your choice is to name one "sociologist of note" to support your otherwise unsupported opinion, or attempt to explain those facts.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Part of it is the inherent racism where African Americans are overlooked in outreach.

Another part is how to find AA atheists. The Community is largely centered around Church as it's successful in societal outreach and support when government fails (and it fails often). Going atheist often means separation from this important factor in the Community.