Stamped From the Beginning Summary
Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped From the Beginning Overview

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America chronicles the history of Black people in the United States from the early colonial period to the time of publication in 2016. The book illustrates how racist and antiracist ideas have progressed together and evolved throughout history, resulting in the racial disparities we see today. The author, Ibram X. Kendi, focuses on the interactions between three schools of thought: segregationism, assimilationism, and antiracism. He explores how social, economic, political, scientific, and intellectual arguments have contributed to race relations in America and takes an intersectional approach to his analysis. Stamped from the Beginning explores themes of racial thinking, uplift suasion, contradictory attitudes toward race, freedom, and the connection between race and sexism/sexuality.