Stamped from the Beginning
The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ratings36
Average rating4.6
15
The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ratings36
Average rating4.6
"A comprehensive history of anti-black racism focuses on the lives of five major players in American history, including Cotton Mather and Thomas Jefferson, and highlights the debates that took place between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists"--
Reviews with the most likes.
I've been listening to bits and pieces of this book for a long time. It's a great resource and definitely a must read for anyone wanting to know more about the history of racism and slavery till the civil rights movements and present day issues, from a different perspective.
It might have felt a little repetitive for me because I had already read and loved the YA remixed version of this book, but it's still a spectacular and eye opening read. Highly recommend. Hoping to dive into The 1619 project as soon as I get my library copy.
And do checkout my review for Stamped if you want to read in more detail what I felt about this book.
Impressive in its scope, approach, and depth. This book read a tad drier than I had thought it would based on its popularity but it's a well-researched and well-written history of racist ideas – exactly what it purports. Worth the acclaim it has garnered.
This is so detailed that I will definitely be reading it again. For this review, let me share a couple things I learned.
Racism and slavery go all the way back to Aristotle. At the time there was a guy, I don't remember his name, who was writing against Aristotle. Yet we don't remember that guy's name. We chose Roman and Greek thinking as the epitome of society, but we still ignored the anti-slavery guy.
WEB DuBois and Malcolm X learned and grew in anti- racist thinking and advocacy throughout their lives. So don't judge them for one thing they said, but the entirety of their life message.
I will be reading this again because there is no way to learn it all the first time.
Segregation and Anti-Rascism are relatively straightforward, but what Kendi does for the majority of this book is demonstrate how a third narrative in racism, Assimilation, has been interwoven into the fabric of the discourse. It's his handling of calls for assimilation and how they've historically been used to deepen racist agendas that is profound.
