Stamped from the Beginning examines the history of racist ideas in America and how they have shaped society and public policy over the past few centuries. The film focuses on the work of five major American intellectuals and politicians who promoted ideas that justified racist beliefs and practices - Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis. It looks at how notions of segregation, eugenics, racial nationalism, and white supremacy originated and then became embedded in institutions, laws, and cultural attitudes. The filmmaker argues that racist notions did not arise spontaneously but rather were deliberately constructed and propagated by influential leaders to maintain power and social control. However, the film also highlights how visionary civil rights activists and writers like Du Bois and Davis courageously challenged prevailing racist orthodoxies and laid the foundation for more egalitarian attitudes and policies. The film stresses the need to be aware of this history in order to dismantle remaining racist structures in America today.
