Stamped from the Beginning

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi, was written before How to be an Antiracist and in it you can see where many of the ideas and theories of that book were first fleshed out.  This book is detailed, intelligent, and insightful.  The American nightmare of racism, and its intersection with sexism, heteronormativity, and  white patriarchy, is shown in its various guises throughout our history.

In the end Stamped asserts that American racism only benefits the small number of white men who control the wealth and political structures of our country.  This is kind of a Marxist conclusion to the problem of race in America.  Race is used by the elites to cloud our real interests and protect theirs.  For Kendi, that is how racism in American will end; when economic disparities are addressed and fixed.