A review by nytephoenyx
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Stamped From the Beginning is a hard-hitting account of racist ideas in America, starting with colonization and working forward through the Obama administration.  Kendi discusses the different approaches to racial equality – segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists.  He also picks apart famous historical figures and shows the complexity of them – that the good ones had racist thoughts too.

I thought Stamped From the Beginning was an enlightening account of our history in this country.  It’s not the story we’re told in high school history courses, but it should be.  This three-dimensional painting of America’s racist ideas reveals a country that is deeply flawed and toxic, but still has the opportunity to change.  America is an extremely patriotic country and most people have difficulty seeing its flaws. However, the only way we are going to be able to grow is to see those flaws and address them appropriately.

Kendi takes the reader chronologically through the years.  I particularly enjoyed the parts on Abraham Lincoln (the white savior if you ever saw one, and not quite as pure-hearted as he is typically represented) and Angela Davis.  Stamped From the Beginning addresses both male and female experiences, and even digs a little into the corrupt prison system.

While there is some intersectionality in this conversation, there is very little.  Kendi discusses the male and female experience, but there was no conversation about the experiences of the Black LGBTQIAP+ community or the Black disabled community.  There’s room to expand Stamped From the Beginning to be inclusive of these experiences as well.

As a professor and a historian, the things Kendi does present are extremely well-written and approachable to the average reader.  Stamped From the Beginning should be taught in AP History classes in high schools at the very least, because it’s important for our education system to be more inclusive if we as a country are going to affect change in any venue.  His cadence in the book is steady, the narrative is direct, and the pacing is good.  I was never bored, and I learned things every time I listened to the audiobook.

I picked up Stamped From the Beginning because I read Jason Reynold’s remix of the book, Stamped, earlier this year, and I’m glad I did.  While Stamped makes these facts more accessible to younger readers, you really don’t get the full picture unless you read the original text.  I recommend both depending the reader, but Stamped From the Beginning truly paints a broader picture of the unpleasant truth of American history.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings