Elon University assigns 'remix' of Kendi book as common read
Elon University assigned the book 'Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You' as the common read for all incoming students.
The book is dubbed as a 'remix' of Kendi’s 2016 bestseller 'Stamped: From the Beginning.'
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, a “remix” of Ibram X. Kendi’s 2016 bestselling book, is this year’s common reading for first-year students at Elon University.
”It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers,” reads the description for the 2020 version of Stamped.
[RELATED: Ibram Kendi launches ANOTHER anti-racism center at BU]
Elon hopes the book, which is co-authored by Jason Reynolds, will provide students with an international perspective.
“The common reading challenges students, faculty and staff to examine through reading themselves and the local and global communities they inhabit,” said Paula Patch, director of first year initiatives, told the university outlet.
Stamped, however, has faced national backlash. The publication is listed on the Intellectual Freedom Blog’s 2020 list of “Banned & Challenged Books.”
[RELATED: Ibram X. Kendi says teaching young students anti-racism is ‘prudent’]
Commenting on Elon’s decision to assign Stamped, Patch told Elon News Network that the university found the book timely.
“We thought it would be important for the campus community to read something that helps us understand why we’re in the middle of this renewed conversation,” Patch said.
Campus Reform reached out to Elon University and Kendi for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
