Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (National Book Award Winner)

About halfway through reading this book, I realized I was highlighting almost every single page and had to start color-coding my highlights so as to make a little more sense of why certain passages struck me—a visual testimony of how illuminating Stamped from the Beginning is. With a primary focus on racism toward African-Americans and people identified as Black, this book is a thoroughly researched, sweepingly comprehensive survey of racism from its first traceable roots in ancient Greece when Aristotle said Africans had “burnt faces” to the start of the African slave trade in 15th century Europe, to the first recorded slave ship arriving in colonial America in 1619, all the way through the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws, the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and up to the present day. In order to help readers navigate this extensive timeline, author Ibram X. Kendi divides the book into five parts, featuring one historical figure as a sort of tour guide or anchor for each part. Very few individuals or institutions mentioned in this book come off as completely free of racist thinking; even many abolitionists and civil rights activists are revealed to have held racist ideas that contradicted their cause. This made me realize the extent to which racism has ensnared the United States in its pernicious roots. In Stamped from the Beginning, Kendi presents two main ideas about racism that helped me understand its influence and progress over the centuries. First, he explains that “Hate and ignorance have not driven the history of racist ideas in America. Racist policies have driven the history of racist ideas in America.” The author admits, “I was taught the popular folktale of racism: that ignorant and hateful people had produced racist ideas, and that these racist people had instituted racist policies. But when I learned the motives behind the production of many of America’s most influentially racist ideas, it became quite obvious that this folktale, though sensible, was not based on a firm footing of historical evidence.” As Kendi explains further, “Racially discriminatory policies have usually sprung from economic, political, and cultural self-interests, self-interests that are constantly changing.” Now that I understand self-interest—not hate or ignorance—has been the driving factor behind racist policies, I can better understand why racism hasn’t died out with the Emancipation Proclamation or desegregation or any of the Civil Rights Acts passed in this country. Tragically, racism persists and continues to evolve according to the current self-interests of people and institutions in power. It’s why, after slavery was abolished, segregation and the Jim Crow laws rushed in to replace it, and long after segregation has been outlawed, African-Americans continue to be oppressed by disproportionate mass incarceration as well as disadvantaged by fewer, inferior housing and employment opportunities. Second, Kendi points out that racism is not simply a debate between those who support racist ideas and those who oppose racist ideas. Throughout history, three–not two–viewpoints on racism have persisted: “A group we can call segregationists has blamed Black people themselves for the racial disparities. A group we can call antiracists has pointed to racial discrimination. A group we can call assimilationists has tried to argue for both, saying that Black people and racial discrimination were to blame for racial disparities.” As much as I would like to believe I am firmly in the antiracist camp, reading this book made me realize I have held a lot of racist ideas from an assimilationist viewpoint that I need to correct. Kendi gives many examples of well-meaning civil rights activists, including some African-Americans, who upheld assimilationist ideas. Some persisted with these ideas their entire lives, others realized their error and later self-corrected to an antiracist viewpoint, and still others upheld both antiracist and assimilationist ideas, often not realizing the contradiction. Thus, a tragic pattern that has repeated itself throughout American history is the persistence of many assimilationists in seeking to abolish racist policies and ideas with the same flawed strategies that never work. Indeed, the African-American author admits, “Even though I am an African studies historian and have been tutored all my life in egalitarian spaces, I held racist notions of Black inferiority before researching and writing this book.” I think it’s crucially important that Kendi tells readers about his mistaken notions of race—not to make readers feel better about their own ignorance, but to demonstrate how deeply racist ideas have taken root in American culture. Hopefully this admission on the author’s part will ease readers out of their defensive mode and open their minds to the disturbing truth that racism is a lot more pervasive among us Americans than we would like to believe. If you want to understand exactly how racism took root in the United States and why it has persisted through the present day, if you are prepared for a very sobering, very painful, and often highly disturbing look at the many flaws, hypocrisies, and atrocities in the American notions of democracy, exceptionalism, and “liberty and justice for all,” then Stamped from the Beginning is a must-read. Ultimately, what the author conveys with copious examples is that “Black Americans’ history of oppression has made Black opportunities—not Black people—inferior.” An absolutely necessary emendation to the traditionally accepted canon of American history.

This book like the title says is a history of racist ideas in this country. The author does this by following the lives of 5 historical figures in American history. He starts from the beginning of the American colonies when racist ideas about Africans was beginning to be formed in Europe and the American colonies. The author contends that racism was not a result of the slave trade and slavery in Africa but were rather created to justify the treatment of Africans and Native Americans in the American colonies. Through the five parts of the book the reader finds out that while the terminology and basis of the racist beliefs change and modify it is stilled used to justify oppression and exploitation. One thing that I found especially interesting was how the author identified the different parts of the debate on race: Racist, Assimilationist and and Anti-racist. He also points out that these ideas can be held by anyone and often were held and deployed by people who were trying to combat racism. This shows that racist ideas are deeply ingrained in out culture and society among all races and ethnicity and it is by identifying this and the form these ideas take, they can be combated. I found this book especially interesting as it made me examine my own views on race and the inherent racism in my own ideas. What I found most interesting is how racist ideas and tropes are often used in combating racism making their efforts counterproductive. Despite it's size, this book is a fast and easy read and I found myself experiencing a little nostalgia in the last chapters. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American history or the history of race.

I have not reviewed many books on Amazon, but want to recommend Stamped from the Beginning rigorously and sincerely. At first, the scope of this work seems unimaginable, but then Mr. Kendi simply starts at the beginning and steadily traces the entire history of anti-black racist ideas from the start of the African slave trade in Portugal through the election of Barack Obama and subsequent projections of a "post-racial" America. A few things become increasingly clear: the perpetrators of these racist ideas cannot be educated away from them because THEY ARE AWARE, that espousing the virtues of "personal responsibility" is as old a tactic as slavery itself, and that the white perpetrators of racist ideas will only fight them when convinced it is in their self-interest. I learned an immense amount from Mr. Kendi's book not just about my country's own history, but its momentum. The multiple biographical accounts in this book serve to illustrate the insidiousness of racist ideas--many of America's most celebrated civil rights figures sometimes dealt in assimilationist or segregationist theory themselves. This work also emotionally portrays the disappointment of many antiracist thinkers when their efforts to educate the country on the effects of racial discrimination are heard and then summarily ignored. But this book also left me hopeful, not because "we've made so much progress despite having a long way to go" but because by illuminating the pervasiveness and detailed evolution of racist ideas, Mr. Kendi charts a path forward. I feel, empowered with historical context, ready to convince members of my own community that ending racial discrimination is not just a profound revolutionary responsibility, but in all of our self interest.

Stamped From the Beginning discusses the history of racism and racist ideas in America. Kendi focuses on five main people who have made the biggest impact on racism and anti-racism in our history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis. “When men oppress their fellow-men, the oppressor ever finds, in the character of the oppressed, a full justification for his oppression.” Douglass, amazingly, summed up the history of racist ideas in a single sentence.” - (Fredrick Douglass) This was an incredibly powerful and educational book. I knew going into this book that the United States education system has failed at teaching the history of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow, and the continued struggle. But it still amazed me at how much it doesn’t teach. With every single chapter I learned new things that should have been taught to me in school. While this is a very large book filled with history, it was an easy read. Normally I would have read this book in a few days but instead I stretched it out over a month and a half. I read, reflected, took notes, did more research and I still know that I have a lot to learn. My book is now covered in sticky notes and I know I will be rereading this in the future because I know I missed stuff. “That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to think there is nothing wrong with Black people, to think that racial groups are equal. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of African ancestry. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of African ancestry. But no racial group has ever had a monopoly on any type of human trait or gene—not now, not ever.” This book changed the way I viewed the history of the United States. So much of this history has been glossed over by the education system, and other history books. This book should be required reading for everyone especially since the education system won’t teach us the true history of the United States. All I can say is, READ THIS BOOK!

This book had a profound impact on me. It has changed how I view all political discussions, history discussions, policy discussions, and race discussions. As a Hispanic Caucasian, I was acutely unaware of much of America's racist history. I knew the obvious examples, but this book really shows how extensive the racism is and its profound effects that are still heavily in effect today. Kendi's thesis is short and simple: racist ideas were created to justify racist policies. This is counter to the common argument that ignorance and racism spurs racist policies. Kendi lays out his main thesis at the beginning of the book and follows it up with example after example to back it up. Keeping the thesis and definition of racism simple really helps emphasize Kendi's point throughout the book. This book is also thorough; so much history is covered by this book. I spent a lot of time looking up some historical events or figures in more detail on Wikipedia to get a fuller picture. If you are unfamiliar with American history, then expect to move very slowly through the text as you look everything up for proper context. I absolutely love this book and strongly encourage everyone to read it. However, I do have a few gripes with it: - Kendi often misled me with his wording or juxtaposition of statements. I understand he is trying to make a statement, but I wish he wouldn't do this. One example that comes to mind is Roosevelt's naming of the White House. Kendi makes it seem like Roosevelt named it the White House after the public uproar over his invitation of Booker T. Washington over for dinner. However, there doesn't appear to be any evidence to support this, and there is some indication the White House was already referred to by that name well before the dinner. To Kendi's credit, he doesn't explicitly say the naming was done to appease the public, he just points out that it happened and people were still upset. Another example is his mention of black unemployment rates rising sharply in the early 1980s. This is true, but all unemployment rates rose during that time due to the recession. Yes, the black unemployment rate was worse, but he doesn't make that point: he only mentions the black unemployment rates. So as a reader you have to be careful of the facts you internalize from the book. - The organization of the book didn't really do anything for me. He tries to break down the text into 4 main sections, each focusing on a different historical figure. However, the focus on the figures didn't really contribute much, in my opinion, to his thesis. It brought some organization to his book, but not much. I would have preferred he spent more of the book going into details of some of the more significant policies or events than to keep looping the historical figure back in. - Text can read a bit haphazardly at times. There are certain sections of the book where I feel Kendi is jumping around history pretty quickly to different events and it becomes difficult for me to follow. Eventually he gets around to making a point, but it usually takes too long for me to fully grasp it at the moment. I have to often re-read these sections a second time to really get it. Again, please buy this book and read it. We would all be better off to know this history and the racist policies behind it.

This is a very well written work. I definitely see why it has won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction among other nominations. But, like many contemporary books written on the topic of anti-black racism and pan-Africanism, it suffers from incomplete research, depth, and nuance on the subject of medieval Arab perspectives on "Africans", especially views expressed by Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun. Toward the beginning of Kendi's work when speaking of the Arab conquest of North Africa, while juxtaposing indigenous African civilization with that of Arabia, he neglects to underscore the fact that Songhay, Mali, and Ghana were not merely "African" empires. They were African "Muslim" empires. This attempt to disassociate their flourishing from Islam is characteristic of many anti-Arab anti-Muslim Africanist writers. Kendi clearly believes that Arabs were a white race, saw themselves as such, and even were intent on reinforcing positive "white" stereotypes and negative "black" stereotypes. The reality is that the original Arabs---or the very Arabs who conquered North Africa---were brown-skinned people. The very commander, 'Amr b. al-'As, who conquered Egypt was the son of an Ethiopian mother, and his uterine brother from the same mother, 'Uqbah b. Nafi', conquered lands west of Egypt and founded the Tunisian city of Kairouan. The Arabs of old considered "whites" to be the people of Europe, Persia, and Syria. And, there is plenty in the works of Arab historians, lexicographers, and literati that show that Arabs neither saw themselves as a subspecies of whites nor did they deem themselves to be inferior to them. On the contrary, Arabs considered themselves and their civilization superior to others. Kendi, like other Africanists, clearly has applied contemporary conceptions of race to the premodern period, especially North American conceptions of "black" and "white." The reality is that both Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun had specific Africans in mind when they spoke negatively of them. This, of course, is not meant to justify any unsolicited critique of any geographical group that either of them may have had. But, Kendi reaches too far in trying to make their ideas and theories cause for reinforcing anti-black sentiment. Ibn Khaldun has plenty of good things to say about the empires of Mali, Songhay, and Abyssinia. His negative comments about "Negros" are directed mainly against sub-saharan naked cannibals encountered by Arabs in the distant past, not all of those we consider "black" today. Ibn Khaldun also rejects the curse of ham myth and the idea of Ham being the direct descent of black skinned people. What further undermines Kendi's allegations launched against Ibn Khaldun and other Arab scholars is the very fact that Ibn Khaldun attributes similar uncivilized or savage attributes to the Slavs. If he was attempting to attribute civilizational superiority to white skinned people---instead of theorizing the relative industriousness of a people based upon the effects of climate, he would have not characterized Slavs in the way he did. He would have had nothing negative to say about them. In addition, Kendi provides no evidence that Ibn Battuta's positive statements about the great west African empires was "an abhorred oddity" as he claims. There's much more that can be said about this. But, this aspect of the work is a glaring flaw to me. Writers like Kendi will need to tone down their passions and preconceived assumptions about Arabs, Islam, and the spread of Islam in Africa if there is hope to offer a truly objective work on the topic of anti-blackness. I say this as an African American Muslim myself. Other than that, I find this work exceptional, although I'm certain there are more that can be critiqued in it.

Having just finished Dr. Kendi's magnum opus on the history of American racism, I can confidently say that this is a very ambitious work. It attempts to describe the political, social, economic, philosophical, and cultural development of racist ideas throughout American history while at the same time, offering biographical sketches of 5 Americans who were/are representative of their time and place (Cotton Matther/Colonial America, Jefferson/Revolutionary era, William Garrison/Civil War and Reconstruction Era, W.E.B. DuBois/Jim Crow era, and Angela Davis/Civil Rights and Black Power era). Perhaps it's a bit too ambitious, though. The amount of ground the book tries to cover prevents it from being able to cover anything in great detail. Thus, the biographies of the 5 individuals are incomplete, and the racist or assimilationist ideas in each time period are discussed superficially. Dr. Kendi's book also jumps around a lot from one subject to another, which can be a bit jarring or disrupt the flow of the narrative. Don't get me wrong. The book does a very good job explaining how a lot of what has passed for antiracism in US history was really assimilationist thinking, and it also convincingly argues that racism and racist policies flow from the political, economic, or social advantages that one group gains by the persecution of the other. However, I am left with the distinct impression that Dr. Kendi should've narrowed his focus to something that could've been more manageable. Perhaps he should've focused exclusively on the difference between antiracism vs assimilation. Perhaps instead of attempting biographies of 5 individuals, he should've devoted each chapter (or section) of the book to discussing the racist or assimilationist ideas of that time period, and how they developed or changed over time. Overall, my best advice would be to get this book and read it, because it's very timely with what's going on right now in America, but for those areas that aren't covered in a lot of detail, I would try to supplement it with other literature.

“I decided to write a scholarly history that could be devoured by as many people as possible—without shortchanging the serious complexities—because racist ideas and their history have affected all of us. While historians in academia have become more accepting in recent decades of historians who write histories on the masses of Americans, historians are not nearly as accepting of those who write histories for the masses of Americans. Hopefully this will change.” EVERY page is filled with relevant information and a concise history of racial discrimination up to and including Barack Obama. A simple summation from me is impossible. He observes that whites are judged by their negative actions as individuals, and their brilliant successes as a race; the negative actions of blacks, however, are judged as typical of their race and their successes are attributable to “exceptional” individuals of their race. Is this not true? “There can be no doubt that the producers and defenders and ignorers of racist policies know the facts. And yet they remain for the most part indifferent and unmoved: indifferent to the need to pass sweeping legislation completely overhauling the enslaving justice system; unmoved in pushing for initiatives like fighting crime with more and better jobs; indifferent to calls to decriminalize drugs and find alternatives to prisons; unmoved in empowering local residents to hire and fire the officers policing their communities. They remain for the most part unwilling to pass grander legislation that re-envisions American race relations by fundamentally assuming that discrimination is behind the racial disparities (and not what’s wrong with Black folk), and by creating an agency that aggressively investigates the disparities and punishes conscious and unconscious discriminators.“