Stamped from the Beginning
The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America: NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX FILM
- Published: 6 July 2017
- ISBN: 9781473549470
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 592
Engrossing ... ruthless
Washington Post
A staggering intellectual history
New Republic
A deep (and often disturbing) chronicling of how anti-black thinking has entrenched itself in the fabric of American society
Atlantic
Upends many commonly held beliefs about how racism works
Boston Globe
Unusually original and groundbreaking ... Ibram X Kendi's brilliant book ... has disturbed some readers because of the author's fearless reappraisal of the words, actions and philosophies of some of the more revered heroes of American abolitionism and civil rights -- including African American heroes ... Kendi remains awake to nuance and complexity [yet] this is not a historian fearful of upsetting orthodoxies or questioning fixed reputations. He goes where the evidence takes him, which is not to where we or we might want it to go ... a compelling if discomfiting thesis ... persuasive and powerful
David Olusoga, Observer
You should read it for its arguments about what racism is, even if in the end you are not obliged to agree with all of them. Nor should you dodge it on the basis that you knew all this already -- like me, you almost certainly didn't ... It is remarkable how economic interest spawned a semi-millennium's worth of cod theorising, pseudo-science and vulgar abuse masquerading as fact
David Aaronovitch, The Times
Absorbing… This is a powerful, thought-provoking book that features a dizzying array of characters, deftly navigates complex intellectual terrain and draws on a wealth of evidence
Simon Hall, Literary Review
Stamped from the Beginning provides a lucid, accessible survey of how "the people" were racialised over 500 years… Kendi confidently re-evaluates the writings of many celebrated abolitionists and African-American heroes and concludes that racism often underpinned their strategies… Kendi’s most important insight might help rethink anti-racist activism… Stamped from the Beginning is an unyielding narrative of racist ideas, violence and harm
Sadiah Qureshi, New Statesman
I can’t say whether Ibram X Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning will offend most white people (though I’m willing to bet it will offend some), but he damn sure names white supremacy for what it is… His research is exhaustive and his conclusions will surprise many
Mark Anthony Neal, Guardian