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

challenging informative sad slow-paced

4.0

Not the greatest piece of historical writing. Kendi seems very comfortable relying on sketchy evidence when that’s all he can find to hold up his thesis—especially in the earlier sections of the book, you keep running across phrases like “there’s no reason to believe that such-and-such person didn’t believe x...” It’s not as though historical speculation has no place, of course. But this is written in a way to seem like a fully fleshed out argument, so long as the reader isn’t particularly skeptical. I want to agree with Kendi, just as I’m sure most of his readers do. But I’m not willing to accept his speculation as though it were actual fact, and that does seem to be his expectation.

In later sections, however, the history is both more thorough and more interesting. I really appreciated Part V, in particular, for filling out my knowledge of recent American history in several surprising places.

Definitely a recommended read, but I do also recommend a bit of a skeptical eye.