A review by kellycoburn37
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi
5.0
This book should be read by everyone interested in learning the real history of this country’s systemic racism. There is so much information in here that I WISH I had learned in school. It uses five people (Cotton Mather—a Puritan minister; former president, Thomas Jefferson; abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison; activist and leader W.E.B. Du Bois; and activist Angela Davis) throughout the history of our country to describe the history of anti-black racist ideas in America. It really shows that racist ideas did not come from nowhere—they were created to justify the systemic racist policies that this country has had from the beginning.
I am not usually a reader of nonfiction but this book was written in a way that kept my attention (despite it being very long). I learned a lot of new information that will (hopefully) help me to be a better teacher and citizen.
I know that there is a YA version of this book called Stamped co-written with Jason Reynolds that I am also interested in reading. I’ve heard that it does a really good job of condensing this information without missing any of the key points.
I am not usually a reader of nonfiction but this book was written in a way that kept my attention (despite it being very long). I learned a lot of new information that will (hopefully) help me to be a better teacher and citizen.
I know that there is a YA version of this book called Stamped co-written with Jason Reynolds that I am also interested in reading. I’ve heard that it does a really good job of condensing this information without missing any of the key points.