Ibram X. Kendi, professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, addresses a capacity crowd at Gomes Chapel on the Bates College campus in Lewiston on Monday night. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON — Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, told a crowd at Bates College on Monday night, “Racist ideas are manufactured after the fact” by people who want to retain wealth, power and prestige.

In his address titled “How To Be an Antiracist,” he spoke about many concepts covered in his book, “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” which won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Kendi, professor of history and international relations at American University, emphasized the many ironies and complexities that exist in our thinking about racism. These ideas “have literally become our common sense,” he said, adding that we first have to come to grips with the fact that we have learned these ideas since birth.

He said, “There has been a simultaneous progression of racism” from the era of slavery to modern society.

“These policies have become sophisticated over time,” he told the audience of college students and older members of the audience at Gomes Chapel on the Bates College campus.

Noting that racial inequity is all around us, Kendi said racism came about through “a history of self-interest,” and not from ignorance or hate.

He pointed out the irony of each person’s attitude of “not me” when they examine their inclination to racism.

It’s like saying, “It’s not about the money, when it’s always about the money,” he said.

Kendi said the first step toward being an antiracist is to reject segregationist ideas. There are no biological differences between races, he noted. “The fault is in judging other cultures against our own cultural standards,” he said. 

It’s important to enhance all philosophies and to seek opportunities to enrich all cultures, he said.

“The mind is complex,” he said, pointing out that the effort to be an antiracist “is an everyday fight.”

The speaker reminded the audience that Bates College was founded upon abolitionist principles.

Kendi was introduced by Bates College President Clayton Spencer and Christopher Petrella of the college’s Office of Equity and Diversity.

The audience in Gomes Chapel at Bates College listens to Ibram X. Kendi, professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, at the Lewiston campus Monday night. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

The audience in Gomes Chapel at Bates College listen to Ibram X. Kendi, professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, at the Lewiston campus Monday night. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)