Book #139 of 2020:

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

Published in early 2016, this is a meticulously thorough presentation of American anti-black racism and notions of race more generally, from pre-revolutionary slavery through the extrajudicial killings that sparked the modern #BlackLivesMatter movement. The material is quite heavy, but it’s less challenging than some books on the subject — including author Ibram X. Kendi’s later How to Be an Antiracist — due to its framing as a work meant to educate, rather than confront and persuade. This is primarily a history text in the Howard Zinn tradition, and although it can be uncomfortable to realize how much has been left out or skewed in conventional teachings, it’s important to open our eyes to this body of knowledge and realize how deeply our contemporary culture’s treatment of race runs counter to historical fact.

Of course, simple understanding is not the end goal, for as Kendi documents, ignorance and hatred are more often the effects of racist policies than their drivers. For centuries, systems of racial inequity have inspired various prejudicial ideologies for popular support, and puncturing the latter — by pointing out, for instance, how black people tend to get assigned negative stereotypes as a group, in contrast to what’s seen as the individual failings of particular whites — will not automatically weaken the underlying power structures. But it’s perhaps a necessary starting point, and this account provides both that grounding education and a sense of how monumental and urgent is the task to go even further.

Overall it’s a remarkable and clarifying read that deserves to be incorporated into everyone’s personal curriculum.

★★★★★

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