The focus of this site is music, but I decided to veer off that course to delve into something personal. There has been a lot of chatter in my social media circles about black people and atheism. This is a subject that hits very close to home for me because I am a black atheist. To the readers who aren’t black, this might seem like a trivial non-issue, but on the contrary; it’s a very serious issue within the black community and the African diaspora in general. You simply cannot say you don’t have faith and remain unscathed in most black communities. You will be judged negatively and very harshly. A NY Times article about black atheists that has been making the rounds in the last year is The Unbelievers. It takes on this very sensitive subject. I urge you to read it.
A little background on me; I was never a believer. I was a very skeptical and inquisitive child, much to the chagrin of my parents. I routinely embarrassed them in front of company because I asked questions that children weren’t supposed to ask. As a young child, I interrogated my mother about the existence of Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as Nigerians call him. I noticed Father Christmas was at school, and then there was another Father Christmas elsewhere. Right then, I knew he was a fraud. Surely, he couldn’t be at two different locations at the same time. Not to mention, one of them was smaller than the other one. In all the images, Father Christmas was always a jolly fat white man. These ones were black, and they weren’t fat at all. They were wearing padding. I could also see dark stubble behind their clearly fake white beards. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone the truth, but telling the truth made me a pariah. What I had to say wasn’t welcome. It made the adults and children alike upset. Apparently, I was ruining things with my “truth telling”. They preferred to maintain an imaginary world that could easily be disproved with rationality. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience, and I generally kept my skepticism to myself from then on.
Despite being baptized, I grew up in a secular home. My father is not religious at all, and he usually has debates about religion with my cousin’s deeply religious husband during Thanksgiving dinner. That has become the tradition. What religious family member will dad call out this time? He’s a staunch critic of creationism. He’s like a Nigerian Richard Dawkins. One thing you shouldn’t do is debate a man who is a lifelong academic with a Ph.D from Columbia. You will probably lose. To date, I’ve never seen my father lose a debate. My mother on the other-hand to this day, bless her heart, describes herself as an Anglican christian. In reality, she hasn’t attended Sunday service since the 60s. She’s at the very least agnostic, but she wouldn’t dare call herself that dreadful word. Which goes on to the larger point I want to make. Being an atheist or agnostic in the black community is basically heresy. It’s certainly not something black people wear proudly, so many just stifle their feelings. I know quite a few black people that go to church who deep down are non-believers, but they go because it is tradition, and church is a place for gathering and being communal. It isn’t just a place of worship. Proclaiming you’re an atheist is the fastest way to becoming an outcast, which is the last thing you would want to be if you grew up in a communal society. Black people are not a monolith, and that goes without saying, but when it comes to matters of faith, individuality is not a cornerstone in that aspect of black life. You’re supposed to fall inline and believe. Belief in god is the rule, and not the exception.
In the Nigerian community, church is even more important. In the US, people tend to think the evangelicals here are hardcore theists. They have obviously not encountered Nigerian theists. They don’t bible thump, they bible hit you upside the head. You simply cannot function as an atheist in Nigeria without scorn, ridicule and suspicion. The southern half of the country is devoutly christian, while the northern half is muslim, with an implementation of sharia in many regions. My secular thoughts would not be welcome in the south that is devoutly christian, and I know this from first hand experience. In the muslim north, I would flat out be an infidel, and in the regions that have implemented sharia, I’d be concerned for my safety. Groups like Boko Haram are making life there extremely difficult. It pains me to say this, but I am glad I am not there. I want no part of a society that sees fit to ostracize me for having the gall to be a free thinker. A lot of my extended family is religious, and their lives centers around their faith. Thankfully, my immediate family isn’t deeply religious.
In terms of dating, nothing has been overwhelming met with more negativity than telling black women you are an atheist in my experience. I was once on a date that was going quite well, until my date mentioned that she wanted to change her church and asked me what church I attended. I told her I didn’t attend church (note her assumption that I was a christian). She then paused, and then went on about how she knows some people who just privately read the bible and are non-denominational christians. I told her I didn’t read the bible and that I was an atheist. She had a look of sheer horror on her face after I said that, as if I told her I was a pedophile. She then said she could not be in the company of a man who was not “god fearing” and that she had to leave. I can laugh about it now, but it wasn’t funny back then. That experience made me traverse carefully on the subject of religion with black women in general, because if there is something many black women love, it’s jesus. Go to any black church, and I guarantee you that the female congregants will be the majority.
After many negative experiences with being an open atheist with black women, I softened my approach. I wasn’t an atheist anymore, I became “spiritual”, whatever that meant. Nothing about my lack of belief in a god changed, I was still in fact an atheist, but calling myself spiritual was more tolerable than the nasty atheist word when it came to dating black women. Even black women who weren’t devoutly religious were turned off at the mere idea of atheism. You had to have faith, even if you didn’t lead a life according to the tenets of christianity. You simply weren’t going to get far denouncing god.
This is where many black atheists are, whether it’s in their family life, their friendships, or their romantic life. You simply cannot denounce god in the black community without suspicion. Black atheists can’t outwardly claim that they are non-believers because of the serious consequences that come with taking that position. So they trudge along because they fear alienation. They attend church service, and keep their lack of belief to themselves. I completely understand their situation, and I understand that many would be unable to deal with the inevitable fallout that will come.
For decades, we have heard the meme that the civil rights movement is inextricably linked to religion, from Martin Luther King Jr., to Malcolm X. Indeed, many black leaders came from the religious community, but it is disingenuous to keep telling just that tale. Some of the greatest civil rights activists were self described freethinkers, and/or atheists, from W.E.B. Du Bois to A. Phillip Randolph. Saying that the civil rights movement was strictly a religious movement isn’t only not true, it invalidates the history and contributions of the many leaders who were not religious. That’s a history that should not be forgotten. Anyone who equates the civil rights movement with religion is a person that is telling me that they know little about the full breadth of the civil rights movement.
It’s unfortunate that a discussion like this needs to be had, but morality and justice isn’t something that is owned by people with faith. I am glad to see some push-back from black atheists. The internet has given rise to more outspoken people, who in turn are letting others know that they aren’t alone. For that I am grateful, and it is a movement that I will wholeheartedly support. Maybe the black community (and everyone else) can one day evolve to a society that doesn’t ostracize people because they don’t believe in sky gods. Maybe. I certainly hope so.
Filed under: Uncategorized, African American, Atheism, Black Atheism, Black Atheists, Boko Haram, faith, Nigeria, Religion
Well since you have come-out as an athiest, Atane, I as a black woman with strong beliefs can no longer affiliate myself with you ever again. have a great life.
JUST KIDDING!
No, baby boy, it’s really not that serious. My motto is “you do you and I do me”. You can believe (or not believe) in anything you want. It doesn’t affect my life in any shape or form, so why why should I feel like it’s a personal attack on me just because you don’t share my beliefs? And being that you are a hardcore music fan like myself, it’s a safe bet that we have the same belief after all-in music!
This was a very thought provoking and personal piece and I commend you for penning it. Before reading your article, I was unaware of Black Atheism. As you pointed out in your post, not believing in God, the church, in religion and, well, the church is like an immediate revocation of your Colored People card. Most black folks regard other black folks who are not religious as straight up Satan worshippers.Meanwhile, the behavior of some church folks is anything but ‘christian’. But please don’t tell them that, they might drown you during baptism.
I personally am a believer meaning that I do believe there is a Higher power than that of man but my beliefs have nothing to do with religion. I went to college in the Bible Belt south and my father and step mother are highly religious people. So between those two factors, I decided to pack up and haul booty butt back up north after graduation because most of the people who were suppose to be representing God and the church were the most insecure, jealous, pious, vindictive, and vicious people I had ever met. But meanwhile I was the sinner and would never be forgiven by God because I didn’t go to church every sunday and couldn’t (or just didn’t want to) quote bible scriptures in everyday conversation! SMH
Nonetheless, I say Live and Let Live. Just do it well!
Once again, great piece and hope all is well with you!
Hey Tuesday,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. A lot of people indeed don’t know about ‘black atheism’, but it’s nothing new. It’s just people who don’t believe in god, and they’ve always been around. Everyone remembers Martin Luther King Jr’s most famous speech, the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. What gets lost in the narrative was the person who had planned and initiated the march decades before it actually happened, and that was civil rights leader, A. Phillip Randolph. He was an atheist.
People like Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston and many other notable black writers were religious skeptics, and some have written critically about religion. Many of the black writers during the Harlem renaissance were secularists and/or irreligious. Nevertheless, I think the modern online community is giving black atheists visibility, so they are “coming out” so to speak.
I know so much about your point on the revocation of your “colored person” card when you say you aren’t religious to some black folks. It’s really scary when people just come out and say they don’t want to be around you because you don’t go to church or have faith. Essentially, they are bullies. This used to bother me when I was younger, but not anymore. I wouldn’t want to be around anyone that callous, or who had contempt for me because I didn’t share their faith.
I thought long and hard before posting this since I don’t post about personal things, and this is primarily a music blog. I thought it was worth a shot.
Cheers,
Atane
Thanks for sharing your story Atane. I think it’s important for atheists to out ourselves wherever possible so believers can realize they’ve actually known plenty of us, and they can coexist in society with us. Pieces like this will certainly help.
Thanks for stopping by David. I agree. I’ve received a few direct messages on twitter from a few closet black atheists who are dealing with this problem. That alone reassured me that going public with this was the right decision.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts and experiences on this subject. I’m an older (69) white atheist in the south, and I recently retired from teaching in a mostly black high school in Texas. The subject of Christianity and its history with the black community is one that I have lots of questions about. I somehow feel that if I were black in the US I would be atheist, or at least not Christian, as a matter of policy. From my point of view growing up in Texas, it seems that Christianity has been a big part of the hateful racist atmosphere. I realize that the church itself has been a source of community and strength for people, but the religion? It is hateful, deceitful, racist and mean. I can’t see the attraction from the perspective of a southern black citizen.
Hi Diana,
This is a good question, and I can answer it from 2 different perspectives. I can answer it as an American, and I can answer it as someone with Nigerian heritage. I’ll tackle it from the American perspective since that is what your inquiry focuses on.
I can certainly understand why African Americans are christian. It is true that part of the “De-Africanizing” process of African slaves in the new world was stripping them of their indegenous religions, languages and cultures in favor of christianity. However, it is a bit more nuanced than that. Because of slavery, segregation, and later on Jim Crow laws on the books, blacks weren’t allowed to congregate anywhere but in church. This is why many equate the civil rights movement with the black church. It was a safe haven for black people. Not everyone there was a believer, but you really didn’t have a choice in the matter as to where you could congregate. It was illegal for black people to gather, so by default, you more or less had to be in a church as a black person to even be in a social gathering. This is a lot different from white christians whose church attendance was an option. Not to mention that when you are subjected to that kind of brutality as people, essentially all you have is your faith. You can only hope for the better. It might not make rational sense, but unless you have been systematically broken as a person, you can’t say what you will do. God was hope, and it reflects in the Negro Spirituals and songs that African Americans created. Songs like ‘Wade in the Water’, ‘Swing low, sweet chariot’ and ‘Song of the Free’ for example. They typically tell a tale of suffering, but with optimism and freedom from shackles at the end. The promised land so to speak. One day, they will be free.
Many African cultures share this belief btw. A belief that no matter how trying and difficult a situation might be, the suffering is only temporary and one day you will get to the promised land. I think the most notable example in African American culture is the Sankofa bird and other symbols originally from the Akan people in present day Ghana. The ideology essentially means taking the good of the past and bringing it to the future. The slaves from that region wanted to return to their time before slavery, and they wanted their future to be like their past in the sense of freedom. Many African American buildings, homes, churches, caskets, fences etc had Sankofa designs on them. The black church syncretized many African traditions. So in that sense, it was all they had.
However, we aren’t slaves anymore. Nevertheless, I don’t want to dictate or tell people what they should believe in. That should be their choice. They should just understand that their personal beliefs should not dictate policy or any kind of legislation. Furthermore, their personal beliefs should not be the standard by which everyone else is judged, and people in their community who don’t share their faith should not be pariahs. LGBT people should be accepted full stop as part of our community. I’m tired of this overt bigotry being paraded as a thing of piety. It’s inconceivable that we are having this conversation in 2012. This is my main problem with organized religion, particularly the black church. They simple don’t want to proselytize, they want to control you and steer the course of society’s values towards what they believe in. That I will not stand for. Believe whatever you want, just don’t tell me what to believe, control my life or dictate what I do with it.
I will admit that the one group of black faith believers that perplex me the most are mormons. There has been a big upsurge in the LDS (latter-day saints) conversion by many blacks, not just in America, but in many African nations, Nigeria in particular. It’s troubling to me, because the very tenets of mormonism are inherently racist and vile. They believe that Cain was a black man, and he loved satan more than god, so god punished him by making his skin black. Essentially, black people (the seed of Cain) have dark skin because they bear the mark of Cain and having dark skin is a punishment and a curse. This is what they believe. The mormon church had an official racist policy regarding black members up until 1979. Blacks weren’t allowed to be clergy, well, because they were cursed according to god. This isn’t slavery times or during the reconstruction era, this is modern day stuff. They also believe the Garden of Eden was in Missouri. It is so demonstrably absurd, and downright stupid. How can any black person be a part of this?
These 2 videos highlight the sheer ridiculousness of it.
Atane,
It goes further than just being an athiest. I’m not crazy about that word “athiest” anymore than I am about other labels like heathen, fetish, and illegitimate, but that’s another discussion .
Though I do practice a spiritual system out of the mainstream, I understand your position. As a scientist, as well, there is the necessity of proving existence and duplicating a result. With any spiritual system, therein lies the notion of faith. One “chooses” to believe.
From a strictly African-American standpoint, if one observes anything but Christianity, Islam or Judaism, being an outcast is a given. One that I readily accept. The only support one feels is from the particular community that they are a part of.
Each system has it’s own culture, values, and mores. These make it difficult for people to see outside of those blinders and thus causes them to perceive you in a certain way.
There is more depth to a person than just that aspect of one’s life (or at least there should be). I commend you for making your own decisions and living life according to your terms and understanding (as challenging as that may be). No man or woman can define what is right and correct for you.
Thanks for the kind words Jonas.
[...] received some emails and direct messages on twitter from my post on being a black atheist last year, most of it in support. Although a few were from christians who wanted to pray for me, [...]