Dear Readers,
Have you ever heard the saying that African-American atheists and other black people who are non-religious are "race traitors". Yeah, apparently some people actually believe that. I am half-black and half-Jewish. I personally am a cultural Jew by choice. A Humanistic Jew, if you will. I haven't had to deal with being called a "race traitor" but I have read many stories of people who have. Being a colored women, I have to deal with everyone automatically assuming that I am a Christian or that I am religious in some way. My Jehovah's Witness mother, even though she never called me a race traitor, finds it odd that a black woman would be an atheist. She said something very similar about my best friend who converted into the LDS Church (Orthodox Mormonism) from Jehovah's Witnesses. My friend was not only shunned, but disowned by her JW family and she is also African-American. Well, if you want to act like that, I find it odd that any black person would want to be a Jehovah's Witness, considering what they had taught for 20 years during the earlier part of the 20th century about blacks.
The JW's did believe at one time that black converts would acquire a lighter skin complexion, provided they did all that the denomination required of them and that Africans were the most inferior race out of all the races on the planet. The website known as " Witnesses for Atheism" addressed this fascinating topic that I knew little about on one of their four podcasts which they have since removed the podcasts, but the website is still up today, at least I still think it is. Being an ex-Jehovah's Witness, an ex-Orthodox Mormon, an ex-Christian Scientist, an ex-Roman Catholic, an ex-Seventh-day Adventist and ex-Pentecostal etc., can be quite difficult, especially as a colored woman living in a predominately religious world, especially where white people , particularly fundamentalist white Christian males are more privileged than I am.
The whole race-traitor thing isn't any different than saying that being LGBT is a "white" thing or that all black women behave in a psychotic fashion because we have severe anger issues. I can get angry, although it has nothing to do with my being a black woman. My hubby. He's a wonderful man and he has never made me feel that way, he has never made me feel that I am just an angry, bitter black woman. Sometimes, it is okay to release your "inner bitch", provided that you do not hurt others or yourself in the process. Just because most black women in the U.S. are religious, specifically Christian, so what? That doesn't mean I have to be. I am an individual. I am not every black chick, okay. I am one person. Atheists of color, whether black or not are a rarity, but we are growing as a movement. Unfortunately, there is much unacknowledged racism within the atheist community. Dusty, an atheist YouTube member had the audacity to refer to black Christians as "Uncle Toms". Excuse me bucko, but I highly doubt you know anything about black Christianity. Many blacks found similarities in Biblical stories to real situations that they found themselves in and used that as a means to cope with the treatment that they faced from white European-American Christians. As an atheist, I can admit there are indeed some positive aspects of the "Black Church". Sure. The Gospel music is awesome and the outfits are to die for. Those are pluses. Some negatives is the distrust of psychology, the anti-intellectualism, the anti-sexual attitudes, the homophobia, the transphobia and even the feeling of segregation that can sometimes come with it.
Being a black atheist doesn't make you a "race-traitor", anymore than being LGBT is a "white thing" or all black women are "lunatics". In fact, I think the hosts of Black Freethinkers Radio are much better examples of atheism, free thought and humanism than let's say, Richard Dawkins. The BFR hosts are awesome people and I just adore them to pieces. Even though, I am an atheist and a cultural Jew, I am black and I am proud to be black and am glad that I can think for myself, nobody knows me better than myself. To my readers I will say, no one knows you better than you know yourself.
Sincerely,
B.W.
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