Olivia: What if the toxic idea of racism wasn't just bad actions, but started with one man deciding how to spin a story? Hey everyone, and welcome back to When It Happened. Olivia: Today we're diving into "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. It’s not a dry history lesson; it’s a fast-paced journey tracing 600 years of racist and antiracist ideas. Kendi and Reynolds show how these ideas often justify bad actions, especially when power and profit are involved. To understand it, they take us back to 15th-century Portugal, to Prince Henry the Navigator and his PR guy, Gomes Eanes de Zurara. Zurara faced a choice: report the facts, or spin the story? That decision is our defining moment. Olivia: Picture Zurara in the mid-1400s, quill in hand, writing The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Prince Henry’s forces were capturing Africans for profit. But Zurara didn't just report that. He made a calculated choice. He framed the brutal enslavement as a noble, Christian mission to save 'savage' souls. He literally invented the narrative that enslaving Africans was godly, painting Blackness itself as something needing a European fix. This wasn't just history; it was ideology creation, right there on the page. Olivia: Why is this one writer so pivotal in "Stamped"? Because Kendi and Reynolds argue this is where the blueprint was drawn. Racist ideas aren't natural; they're manufactured, often after harmful actions, to justify them. Zurara’s chronicle provided the intellectual cover story, the template used for centuries in Europe and America to rationalize exploitation – using religion, then 'science', right up to today. It shows racism isn't just prejudice; it’s about the stories built to maintain power. This pattern repeats throughout the book. Olivia: So, what's the takeaway? First, always ask who benefits from a narrative, especially one creating an 'us' and 'them'. Second, remember these toxic ideas were built, which means they can be dismantled by understanding their origins and actively challenging them. This is Olivia from When It Happened. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next week.