Critical Race Theory moves from campus to Netflix

The popular digital streaming service Netflix is partnering with a leading critical race theorist to create movie renditions for three of his books.

Ibram X. Kendi — who leads Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research — will partner with Netflix to adapt Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, and Antiracist Baby into film.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You — a documentary from Roger Ross Williams aimed at younger viewers
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Antiracist Baby — a series of animated vignettes set to music for preschoolers from Doc McStuffins creator Chris Nee pic.twitter.com/aEWxr4OjBU

— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) January 15, 2021

The children’s bestseller Antiracist Baby will be produced by Kendi himself, according to a statement from Netflix. Chris Nee, creator of Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins, will help Kendi transform the book into a series of music videos.

Antiracist Baby teaches children “nine easy steps for building a more equitable world” in an attempt to introduce “the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism.”

[RELATED: Ibram Kendi launches ANOTHER anti-racism center at BU]

The book Stamped from the Beginning will take the form of a documentary. 

The book argues that “racist thought is alive and well in America — more sophisticated and more insidious than ever.” It asserts that American intellectuals like Cotton Mather and Thomas Jefferson “devised and honed” racist ideas to “justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial disparities in everything from wealth to health.”

[RELATED: Leading ‘anti-racist’ prof calls the term ‘legal vote’ ‘racist’]

Kendi will also executive produce Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, & You, which will be directed toward the young adult audience. 

The book “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.” It argues that “while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.”

“I’m elated these projects landed at Netflix. What a wonderful partner. I’m elated to work with Roger Ross Williams, Mara Brock Akil, and Chris Nee,” Kendi told Netflix. “They are such ambitious, innovative, and passionate creators who are committed to racial justice. But I’m really elated for the viewers, for the adults and children who will be captivated, informed, and transformed by these projects.”

Campus Reform reached out to Kendi and Netflix for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft