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Stamped from the Beginning

The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

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Stamped from the Beginning

By: Ibram X. Kendi
Narrated by: Avery Kidd Waddell
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About this listen

Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America—it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.

In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W. E. B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis.

As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation's racial inequities.

In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, he gives us reason to hope.

©2016 Ibram X. Kendi (P)2023 Tantor
Americas Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences United States Discrimination Social justice Equality Capitalism Africa Socialism American History Civil Rights Suffrage Human Rights Latin America
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This book is a must read for everybody who truly wants a more equitable society. It highlighted to me that I have racist beliefs which have been perpetuated by the media by politicians and by society and I didn't even realize I had them. It was a excellent critique of history and those individuals who have worked hard to improve society to stop the racist policies and beliefs held by all people. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to producing this book I am extremely grateful. Ngā mihi nui Kia koe.

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