Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

WINNER OF THE 2016 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTIONNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLERNAMED A FINALIST for the 2016 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR NONFICTIONNOMINATED for the 2016 NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK OF NONFICTION, and the 2017 HURSTON/WRIGHT LEGACY AWARD IN NONFICTIONNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Review of Books, The Root, Buzzfeed, Bustle, and EntropyTHE MOST AMBITIOUS BOOK OF 2016 The Washington PostA KIRKUS BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2016, BEST BOOK OF 2016 TO EXPLAIN CURRENT POLITICS & BEST HEARTRENDING NONFICTION BOOK of 2016Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a postracial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in Americamore sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as awardwinning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, and enshrined in American society.In this deeply researched and fastmoving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of antiBlack racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists. From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W.E.B. Du Bois to legendary antiprison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading proslavery and procivil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America.Contrary to popular conceptions, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. Instead, they were devised and honed by some of the most brilliant minds of each era. These intellectuals used their brilliance to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nations racial disparities in everything from wealth to health. And while racist ideas are easily produced and easily consumed, they can also be discredited. In shedding muchneeded light on the murky history of racist ideas, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose themand in the process, gives us reason to hope.ENGROSSING AND RELENTLESS The Washington PostTHIS DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF RACIST IDEAS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING The RootNOVELISTIC FLAIR The StrangerAMBITIOUS, MAGISTERIAL Starred Kirkus ReviewMUST FOR SERIOUS READERS Library JournalHEAVILY RESEARCHED YET READABLE BooklistWORTH THE TIME OF ANYONE WHO WANTS TO UNDERSTAND RACISM The Seattle TimesEVERRELEVANT CONTEXT FOR THE WHITE SUPREMACIST MOMENT The Dallas Morning NewsA COMPELLING, THOROUGHLY ENLIGTENING, UNSETTLING, AND NECESSARY READ VoxGRACEFUL, ENGAGING PROSE Tampa Bay Times