Blacks say atheists were unseen civil rights heroes

[eqfan592]

Given a recent posting implying that atheists were absent during the civil rights movement, I thought this article was deserving of its own thread.

Think of the civil rights movement and chances are the image that comes to mind is of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leading the 1963 March on Washington.

But few people think of A. Philip Randolph, a labor organizer who originated the idea of the march and was at King's side as he made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Why is King, a Christian, remembered by so many and Randolph, an atheist, by so few? It's a question many African-American nontheists -- atheists, humanists and skeptics -- are asking this Black History Month, with some scholars and activists calling for a re-examination of the contributions of nontheists of color to the civil rights movement and beyond.

EDIT: Wow I'm such a moron. I managed to not paste the link here to the article!

Here it is:
http://www.religionnews.com/ethics/race-and-ethnicity/blacks-say-atheists-were-unseen-civil-rights-heroes

[peacebird]

1. I did not know this, thank you!

[RufusTFirefly]

2. I'm an atheist but a huge King fan

That said, the same was true with Abolition.

Conventional American history tells us that the Abolition movement was almost exclusively religious based, when in fact, as with the civil rights movement, so-called "freethinkers" led the charge for Abolition, while many prominent religious leaders pointed to Scripture as a justification for enslavement.

[eqfan592]

4. I'm also a huge fan of Dr. King.

And I'm also an atheist.

[eqfan592]

3. And another great excerpt from the article...

"Lorraine Hansberry, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes -- they were all critical of belief in God," Pinn said. "They provided a foundation for nontheistic participation in social struggle."

But they are often ignored in the narrative of American history, sacrificed to the myth that the achievements of the civil rights movement were the accomplishments of religious -- mainly Christian -- people.

"This is a country that loves the rhetoric of the belief in God," Pinn said. "And think about how things currently stand. You can be socially ostracized and lose all sorts of connections by voicing one's disbelief. If it raises these sorts of questions now, what were the consequences of doing it during the mid-20th century when everything about black life in the U.S. was in question?"

[AlbertCat]

16. what were the consequences of doing it during the mid-20th century

Not as great as they are now!

Remember? TIME mag had a cover "God is Dead". Jesus freaks were laughed at openly in media in the 60's. Science was cool and respected. Kids drank Tang because the astronauts did!

Surely he's not suggesting we've moved FORWARD in this area!

[eqfan592]

17. I think they were talking more specifically about in the black community.

But I don't have a great frame of reference one way or another.

[trotsky]

5. Great counterpoint to religious bigotry.

Thanks for posting.

[SamG]

7. +1000 !!!

We have no place for bigotry in a forum about religion!

Oh dear, that's going to be hard for some.

[rug]

13. That's why it was posted nearly two months ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/121810863

[eqfan592]

15. Looks like it needed posting again, as certain posters seemed to forget it. (nt)

[siligut]

6. Video of Penn Jillette on atheism and morality

Basically he says atheists are moral because it is the right thing to deo, not because they expect a reward or approval.

[humblebum]

9. Very articulate, very logical, very sincere, but

still an A-1 bigot.

[mr blur]

8. Hmm...someone around here needs to read this. nt

[intheflow]

10. Randolph isn't remembered/celebrated not because he was an atheist,

but because he was a labor organizer. Specifically a black labor organizer. His work organizing porters opened many doors of opportunity to African Americans. That's an unforgivable sin in the US. Think that's not the case? Who remembers that King was killed when he was in Memphis marching with black sanitation workers looking to unionize? Mainstream history conveniently glosses over that part of King's death, saying it was only racially motivated, whereas I see it happening when he threatened the 1%.

[dmallind]

12. That would make sense if labor organizers were routinely ignored

When it comes to minority rights organizers, probably the second most famous after King is Chavez.

Labor organizers are well known heroes (or sure villains) outside ethnicity too. I can name far more of them than atheist activists - and my interest is far more in the latter.

[eqfan592]

14. I won't claim to be knowledgeable enough to debate this particular issue with you.

But I will say that the primary point of my posting this story wasn't the idea that they weren't remembered because they were atheists, but that they were atheists and they participated in the civil rights movement, a point recently called into question.

[trotsky]

11. Kicking this since it can use all the visibility it can get, apparently. n/t

[cleanhippie]

18. Kick