The general population is well aware of the existence of atheists by now. Dawkins, Harris, and other prominent white atheists have made sure of that.

But black atheists make up less than 0.5% of the black population in the US and a very small proportion of the atheist population. Though logic dictates that black nonbelievers must exist, their small numbers and lack of visibility contribute to their erasure.

Why does this matter?

Because perpetuating the myth that black people are inherently theistic ignores the diversity of thought that actually exists within the black community. It contributes to the stereotyping of black culture as monolithic, even amongst black people who (should) know better.

Furthermore, when people don’t consider the possibility of black nonbelievers existing, it can affect their relationships with the non-religious people in their lives.

Think of theists offering prayers to nonbelievers with sick family members, or comforting grieving nonbelievers by talking about the afterlife, or encouraging an agnostic cousin to say grace at dinner, or telling a strident atheist they’ll “come around eventually.”

These are just a few examples of the ways that nonbelievers in general are invalidated, annoyed, and silenced by well meaning people. The smaller number of nonbelievers in the black community heightens their erasure in particular.

Black nonbelievers often encounter the assumption that because they are black, religion and spirituality should be especially important to them. And when this assumption is coming from other black people who are themselves religious, it can feel like a denial of cultural identity to express one’s nonbelief.

Recognizing and affirming the existence of black nonbelievers isn’t just about making them more comfortable. If members of the black community strive to recognize and understand people with different views of the world, they can more thoughtfully approach and get along with the people in their lives with whom they disagree.

A lot of prominent freethinkers, humanists, and atheists seem more concerned with denouncing religion than solving issues of structural inequality and systematic injustice. This contributes to the myth that nonbelievers are unconcerned with social justice, or are less concerned with doing good in the world than religious people.

There have been a number of skeptics, mostly older white men, who have made the case for abandoning religion in the modern age. But for all the Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harrises in the atheist world, there aren’t as many skeptics focused on feminism, racial justice, and other sociopolitical issues that would exist with or without religion.

Alongside the myth of the apathetic nonbeliever are even greater myths about religion’s role in black culture. Religion can be wielded as both the weapon of the oppressor and the shield of the oppressed.

For example, during the Transatlantic slave trade, white captors used passages of the Bible to justify the enslavement of Africans and demand their subjugation. Slaves who converted to Christianity, on the other hand, saw parallels between themselves and the enslaved Israelites in the Exodus."