Netflix documentary film “Stamped from the Beginning”, which was released on Netflix a few weeks ago, is utterly direct and forthright about the long and troubling history of American racism. If you are familiar with its main subject, you may not be enlightened that much, but it still holds our attention as a searing essay on American racism, and it is certainly worthwhile to watch considering how the American society has been deep in this infuriating social trouble for a very long time.

At first, the documentary delves into how slavery played a big important part in the racism on African people. Even before the western European countries reached to the African continent during the 14th century, slavery was pretty common in Europe as it had been in numerous areas for many centuries, and African people looked like a suitable alternative just because, well, they looked different. As a matter of fact, there was even a very popular book which emphasized on how African people were inferior compared to Europeans, and its vile propaganda naturally justified the flourishing slave trade business in Africa.

This detestable racist belief was spread to America as more and more African slaves were taken to America during the 18~19th century, and the documentary does not pull any punch at all on how many of its founding fathers looked away from slavery from the very beginning. After all, President George Washington and several following US presidents were involved in slavery in one way or another, and President Thomas Jefferson was actually quite problematic for his glaring hypocrisy on slavery. While he was against slavery on the surface, he had a bunch of slaves in his big rural farm, and he also sexually exploited a young black slave woman, who gave birth to a number of illegitimate children of his as a consequence.

Of course, the change eventually came via the American Civil War in the 19th century, but the documentary sharply points out how many of Northern white abolitionists often showed their own racism, which was no better than the more blatant racism of those Southern slave owners and traders. While President Abraham Lincoln indeed led the country away from slavery, he also showed rather racist opinions on black slaves from time to time, and the documentary reminds us that his efforts against slavery were actually motivated more by political/economic reasons than his moral belief.

Despite being your average white savior, President Lincoln opened his ears and eyes at least to some of prominent black abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas, who convinced him to push more for the end of slavery as well as winning the war. Shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, many black people were allowed to join the US Army, and they certainly played an important part in the eventual end of the war as fighting hard for their freedom.

After the war was over, things surely got much better for millions of black people in the American society, but, sadly, there inevitably came a huge racist backlash upon this rapid social change. Lynching black people became quite common throughout the country during next several decades, and this deplorable atrocity was thoroughly chronicled by a young female black activist/journalist named Ida B. Wells. She passionately investigated and recorded numerous lynching cases which happened throughout the country during a short period of time, and her written words surely convey to us her strong feelings and thoughts on these horrendous incidents.

The documentary explains a bit on how many white people have let themselves driven by racism for many centuries. Believe or not, there was actually a time where white servants and black slaves joined together for their big rebellion against those rich and powerful white dudes, but they were subsequently divided by deliberately racist policies from the power that be, and the documentary regards this as the origin of the prevalent racism among many poor white people in the American society.

Around the early 20th century, racism slipped more into the consciousness of the American society and people in more insidious ways, and we get a number of examples on how American movies could be quite racist in one way or another during last several decades. While G.W. Griffith’s deeply troubling epic silent film “The Birth of a Nation” (1915) comes as a prime example for its blatantly racist elements, there are also many other works perpetuating the stereotype images of black people, and the documentary makes a strong arguement in case of the culturally stereotyped images of black women. While black men have often been depicted as criminal predators in media as well as TV and movies, black women have frequently been sexually objectified in contrast, and the documentary reminds us that we should have believed more the words of many black female survivors of sexual violence such as, yes, Anita Hill.

While it feels a bit hurried at times because it attempts to pack lots of stuffs into its rather short running time (91 minutes), “Stamped from the Beginning”, which is incidentally based on the book of the same name written by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, deliver its points well to its audiences, and director Roger Ross Williams, who recently made his first feature film “Cassandro” (2023), did a competent job of on the whole. Although it is not that new or revealing to me probably because I have watched a fair share of good movies and documentaries on racism (No, not you, “Green Book” (2018).), the documentary engaged me enough at least for its strong presentation of its main subject, and I am certainly willing to recommend it to others around me.