One thing that the predominantly white atheist movement is going to have to ask itself is why it thinks it needs black people. Because we have a long history of being needed in this country, both in practical and ideological ways, and most of it isn’t rosy. I’m not just talking about the obvious past of segregation and slavery, where you needed us so you could have someone to be superior to. I’m talking about now, the current moment, when much of white culture seems to need a certain stereotype of blackness (primitive, dangerous, violent, poor, spiritual) to prop up certain stereotypes of whiteness (advanced, wholesome, relatively sophisticated, rational). As someone who has been called, countless times, "white" when I have acted outside of the bounds of black stereotypes, this rings true.

I realize claiming that whites try to include black people so that they can find someone to be superior to may be controversial, but, honestly, the theory does have a lot of explanatory power. First, it is consistent with a history of whiteness that has depended on a stereotype of blackness to license a race-based hierarchy that needed to be sustained by the presence of black people for its survival. Second, many of the conversations I have been a part of among white individuals seem to be hand-wringing over the "spirituality" of black people (a pervasive stereotype that many black individuals claim is true, as well). However, black individuals who have studied our history tend to state that the picture is more complex -- that there is a rich history of black atheism and that the missing ingredient in today's atheism is a lack of interest in social justice; for good reason, a high emphasis on social justice is common among ideologies held by black people, and this emphasis includes the tradition of black atheism. Third, it seems to make sense that division in the church would correspond to division in rejection of the church. What Malcolm X stated fifty years ago is still true: The most segregated hour on Sunday morning is, indeed, high noon Sunday. White deconverts tend to leave predominantly white churches, and black individuals tend to leave predominantly black churches. It seems fairly self-evident that these churches are drastically different in culture and general goals, for the most part, and it makes sense that some cultural ideology from these differences would remain even after the religious ideology in the churches is rejected.