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Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
30 reviews
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual assault
leighannebfd3b's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
decklededgess's review against another edition
5.0
Perhaps the most depressing yet enlightening tidbit was in the epilogue where the author says something along the lines of: you can't expect people to be altruistic but they certainly can function with "intelligent self interest" to see that the systems they protect actually do not help them at all.
Which....yeah dude that's exactly it.
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Medical trauma
bookmaddie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs
tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder
andreiaoh's review against another edition
5.0
although this positions itself as "not a history book", i truly believe that this should be required reading for everyone. from the 15th century to the 21st, this book captures the enduring struggles that black people in america have had to endure in such a comprehensive and detailed matter, whilst still managing to not come across as overly dry. despite how dense this read was (it took me over a month to fully get through this balanced with all my school work and a bunch of other reads in between), i was still enthralled from beginning to end.
will perhaps write a proper review in the future but im struggling to string words together with my last two brain cells.
lastly, i highly suggest reading this via audiobook format too as it can speed up the reading process and also v good for understanding some of the historical events and other large chunks of information!
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Police brutality
mezzarella's review against another edition
5.0
The humble nature of Kendi's work, where the author himself recognizes that everyone has an incomplete understanding of history and can improve on themselves to become more anti-racist, is very refreshing. It reminds readers that this is important, consistent, and constant work. Antiracism doesn't end with saying people are equal, just as it doesn't end with education (or reading a book). Even so, I was really pleased with how comprehensive this historical analysis really was. After reading, I felt like I walked away with a missing volume of history. As we continue to become more inclusive and accepting as a nation, I hope that this book replaces others in educational curricula. This is a book everyone should be exposed to at least once.
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
anigoose's review against another edition
5.0
It's not a knock on those who made it, or even a complaint, just a head's up for other folks with sensory processing issues!
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Trafficking
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, and Medical content
rubybooks's review against another edition
5.0
I made quite a few notes while I was reading, mainly because I was listening to the audiobook. I definitely also want to buy a physical copy so I can tab and annotate. I think this is the type of book that you should read multiple times because even though I write down some thoughts, there are probably details that I missed. And this is a long book that covers SO much! It's really hard to summarise all my thoughts into this review, but I'll talk about a few notable topics that stood out for me. I might update this review if I get a physical copy and reread it.
Stamped from the Beginning covers a huge length of time, from the colonisation of America to the present day and Obama's presidency. This is probably what I appreciated most about this book - it covered a huge amount of time, but didn't compromise on depth. I sometimes struggle with non-fiction "survey" books because they lack detail, but that was not the case with this book. Kendi discusses so many events, topics, and themes, some of which were already known to me and some weren't. Early on there is a discussion of the American civil war, the middle passage, independence, the great migration, and the history of lynching, as well as so many more things, such as an examination of famous figures like Thomas Jefferson.
I was happy that I did know a lot of what Kendi was referencing, such as the works of Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Kendi also talks about Black lesbians (and Black queer people in general), and he talks a lot about gender racism and I loved this attention on topics that have often been overlooked. After reading a few anti-racist non-fiction books I'm also getting better at remembering details about early colonial American history, as well as later events such as Ronald Reagan's war on drugs. Even then, there is so much for me to learn more about, especially as I'm not American so I didn't learn American history in school.
I really valued the discussion of multiculturalism vs assimilation vs anti-racism, which I briefly learned about in a politics class a few years ago. I hadn't properly considered how the desegregation of schools was assimilationist, as Black children were bussed to white schools and not the other way around. I also learned much more about W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X through Kendi's analysis. And even though I have read some of Angela Davis's work, I really want to read Are Prisons Obsolete? and I also have The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander borrowed because I definitely want to educate myself more on mass incarceration.
There is so much from this book that I didn't even mention here, so I would highly recommend just reading this for yourself. It's a must-read for everyone, especially if you're looking to read more non-fiction and anti-racist literature. I also own a physical copy of How to be an Antiracist, so I'm looking forward to reading more of Kendi's work. This book discusses the horrors of racism over the centuries, so be aware of content warnings for discussion of racism, slurs, lynching, rape, murder, war, mass incarceration, and drugs.
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Murder
readandfindout's review against another edition
4.75
A tabbed this book up so much. Everyone needs to read this, as it examines how every side of our history here in the United States helped racist ideas to develop into what they are today. This is a must read.
2022 reread:
Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Murder