African Americans are a remarkably religious ethnic group. According to the Pew Forum in 2008, 88 percent of African Americans believe in God. Compared to this statistic, there are only 1.6 percent of the total black population that identify with atheism, according to Pew. Black atheists are extremely rare and unheard of in the black community. So much so that African Americans find it incredibly difficult to “come out” to their families and friends because they’re afraid of being isolated or excluded. With this demographic, the inquiry of why this extreme minority exists in the black community arises. To understand the African American’s struggle to refuse religion, one must understand the religious history of the African American, and how
