As a succession of Black academics express wonder and surprise at the question — rolling it over in their mouths while they think about it, like tasting a bitter pill — Stamped from the Beginning launches into an incisive, expansive look at the origin of racist ideas about Black people, covering themes Kendi first explored in his 2016 award-winning book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Early in the film, Kendi speaks about Prince Henry of Portugal – a leader from the 15th century also known as Prince Henry the Navigator – who he says turned to enslaving Africans over slavic people from Eastern Europe because it was harder for Black people to blend in and flee once they'd left Africa.