Where Are All Of The Black Atheists In America?

So many nonbelievers choose to remain in the closet. There are many contributing factors that cause this to happen. Some of those factors being, fear of isolation, fear of losing one's job, or even fear of being physically threaten or harmed. I believe that the reason there are not many black atheists in America compared to the nonblack atheists is because religion is the center of everything in the black community. Everything that happens in the black community is centered on the church. This goes all the way back to the plantation times when black Americans were still slaves. The plantation owners and field overseers would encourage black preachers to emerge from the crowd on the plantations and preach the Christian faith to the slaves in order to keep the slave mentally in bondage, making it less likely for a slave to try to escape. The philosophy was that God wanted the black people in this world to be slaves and that if the slaves were obedient then they would in return have a better afterlife. You'll probably think that this is pretty missed up. You are right but sadly to say it is true. During the Civil Rights movement black preachers once again emerged and lead this movement, although contrary to popular opinion the movement was started by black secularists. Even today black Americans get their political, moral, and family guidelines from the church. For a black American to come out of the closet as an atheist will mean that that person can very likely be cut off from their own family and community. It is also likely that they may lose their job and even face cruel isolation. It is highly likely that they will be discriminated against and looked down on. Most black Americans simply do not wish to face this and chooses to deny themselves the ability of being free from religion when they know something isn't right with religion. As far as the ones who do become atheists, most will hide it for the apparent reasons I have listed above. I became an atheist at the age of fourteen although at that time I called myself an agnostic. I have faced some discrimination and isolation even from my own family as an atheist. I also am looked down upon by my community and my family daily still to this day. I am happy that I became an atheist and revealed it to my family despite all of the drama I have to endure. I encourage all atheists who have not came out of the closet to do so. As far as those sitting on the sidelines, it's time to drop religion and become a freethinker.