a must-read for any American
5 stars
definitely on my list of must-read books
paperback, 592 pages
Published July 6, 2017 by Bodley Head.
4 stars
(15 reviews)
Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America -- it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit. In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis. As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation's racial inequities. In shedding light on this history, Stamped …
Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America -- it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit. In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis. As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation's racial inequities. In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, he gives us reason to hope.
Review of 'Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Absolutely fascinating
Review of 'Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Sweeping; enlightening; and unflinching in it's criticism of nearly everyone. All, even the so-call heroes, are human.
Review of 'Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is, hands-down, the best book I've read this year, and easily all-time top 5 non-fiction for me.
I'm going to have to do some processing, and hopefully write a longer review. But I cannot recommend this highly enough. It is thorough, well-written, and will make you very uncomfortable.
loppear reviewed Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Review of 'Stamped from the Beginning' on Goodreads
4 stars
Two ideas illustrated with detailed accounts from the last 500 years: 1) The history of racism in America is not one of steady nor bumpy "racial progress", but of the refinement and reinvention of racist ideas and occasional surges of anti-racist response. 2) Discrimination leads to racist ideas leads to ignorance and hate, not the other way round. Racism serves power.
