Black atheists, who feel their opinions are not adequately represented in mainstream atheist meets, held a conference of their own mid-October to voice their concerns. They met at a convention titled Moving Social Justice, where they shared and promoted their own ideas and goals for society. Upset with the minority representation their group has at most atheist conventions, leaders of the black atheists community decided to focus on issues that they feel are rarely ever addressed at similar mainstream gatherings, which are dominated by white atheists.
At the recent convention, members of the black atheists community focused on various economic and social inequalities that they believe are still highly prevalent in modern culture, different ways in which the number of children headed directly from school to prison can be reduced and other means by which racial prejudices and homophobia can be eliminated.
Sikivu Hutchinson, founder of Black Skeptics Los Angeles, was among the many that helped organize the October convention.
“Atheism is not a monolithic, monochromatic movement. By addressing issues that are culturally and politically relevant to communities of color, we are addressing a range of things that are not typically addressed within the mainstream atheist movement. Atheists should reach out to members of the community and hear and respond to their needs. There are people in our community that, while they may not believe in God, they are only going to sit down and listen to you talk about separation of church and state for so long. What is really on their mind is decent housing, feeding their children and affording school clothes,” she said while summing up the need for a higher minority representation within the atheist community.
A surprising observation revealed that some religious leaders had also gathered at the convention to speak about similar issues like inequality in society. While religious groups were seen addressing the crowd alongside nonreligious groups, organizers of the conference said that they are often compelled to collaborate with religious bodies, as it is almost impossible for them to host such events without the kind of funding that their religious counterparts receive in the form of donations.
The number of atheists among minorities is significantly small and so many of them feel left out of the larger political debate. For instance, black atheists constitute only three percent of the entire atheist population as opposed to white atheists, who constitute more than 80 percent of the total number. However, most black atheists’ takes on economic and social issues usually align with those of other atheist bodies, civil rights organizations and religion based institutions, so Hutchinson believes the situation is not as bad as it could have been.
Photo Credits: Essence
