It has been a while since I last read a book that took me as long to read as it took me to read Stamped from the Beginning – over two weeks! You can tell that Kendi put a lot of effort into researching and writing this book, so it is only fair that I took my time to read it, to really absorb the information in this book. I ended up re-reading certain passages, and I have underlined and flagged a lot of pages. I could write an essay about this book, but I am going to keep my review succinct because I think that you should read Stamped from the Beginning for yourself. It focuses on racism in America, but really it explains the racist behaviour of white people on a global scale, because, let’s face it, racism is about people of white European descent thinking they are better than everyone else on this planet.

Although jampacked with historical facts, Stamped from the Beginning is not overly scholarly, and I appreciate how Kendi injects a bit of dry humour into his writing. Kendi breaks down the discourse about racism in America into three groups: the segregationists, who were pro-slavery, who are just racist AF, who say that racism does not exists in order to justify their own racist attitudes and politics (say what?) and who basically think Black people are to blame for the racism they suffer; the assimilationists, who were against slavery, but don’t be fooled as the assimilationists are still racist because they think Black people need to “elevate” themselves and be like white people in order to succeed; and the antiracists, who are exactly as the name implies. Antiracists want Black people to be able to look at themselves through their own eyes, not look at themselves through the eyes of a white person. I consider myself an antiracist, but after reading this book, I can see how the racist ideas of the segregationists and assimilationists have influenced my thoughts in the past. This book has taught me to think even more critically about the relations between races and to recognize the racist nuances of the laws being passed by those we elect to power.

Kendi examines racial discourse through five periods of American history and uses five historical figures as “tour guides” for their respective period in history as these people “were arguably the most consistently prominent or provocative racial theorists of their respective lifetimes.” First up is Cotton Mather, the Puritan preacher involved in the Salem witch hunts. Of course he was racist. Kendi calls him “America’s first great assimilationist” as Mather believed that Black slaves could become white in their souls if they became Christians. Next up is Thomas Jefferson, the third US President, who was apparently antislavery, even though he had a plantation and owned hundreds of slaves. He was a racist who played both sides of the assimilationist vs. segregationist debate. Then there is William Lloyd Garrison. Never heard of him before reading this book. He was also antislavery, but still a racist as he believed that racial discrimination actually transformed Black slaves into “barbarians”. The fourth “tour guide” is the first Black one: W. E. B. Du Bois, who was one of the first Black scholars in America. He was biracial and was initially an assimilationist that believed his fellow Blacks needed to elevate themselves, but he eventually turned solely to antiracism. The final “tour guide” is a Black woman, antiracist advocate Angela Davis, who I am sorry to say I have never heard of either as it seems she has lived a very fascinating life.

Some “fun” things I learned from this book (“fun” in quotation marks denotes that it is not actually fun):

1. The Republicans were the antislavery party and the Democrats were the proslavery party. This just blows my mind! Both parties are still racist though, with the Republicans today being more segregationist and the Democrats being more assimilationist.
2. Every single US President (except Obama) was racist. Abraham Lincoln, who Black slaves hailed as their “Messiah” for abolishing slavery, was so, so racist, it’s sickening. He did not abolish slavery because he cared about Black people. He did it for the Union. I believe Obama is antiracist, but even he had to play the assimilationist card to get elected.
3. Entertainers should not be presidents. President Cheeto certainly fanned the flames of racism during his presidency, but Reagan and his racist “war on drugs” was just plain evil.

Stamped from the Beginning was both mentally and emotionally exhausting for me to read, but I’m glad I read it, even if it’s got me feeling a bit demoralized. It’s difficult to keep seeing racists ruining any antiracist progress made. Kendi has a suggestion for how racism can be stopped in America, but it involves white Americans challenging racism and realizing that a society of equal opportunity (so no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, no class bias, etc.) would benefit the vast majority of white people more than racism does, because racism actually benefits rich, white males, and it is rich, white males that drive racist politics in America. This is why people like President Cheeto are able to be elected president. Do I have faith that white people can do this, use intelligence and rationality to realize they are being manipulated and then help Black people be free of racism so that all people can be free of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.? No, I do not think it will happen any time soon, but hopefully I will live long enough to see it happen one day.