The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

(Paperback, Main)

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LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

'With intelligence and care (as well as with a trove of sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes heart-opening true stories) Heather McGhee shows us what racism has cost all of us' - Elizabeth Gilbert

What would make a society drain its public swimming baths and fill them with concrete rather than opening them to everyone Economics researcher Heather McGhee sets out across America to learn why white voters so often act against their own interests. Why do they block changes that would help them, and even destroy their own advantages, whenever people of colour also stand to benefit

Their tragedy is that they believe they can't win unless somebody else loses. But this is a lie. McGhee marshals overwhelming economic evidence, and a profound well of empathy, to reveal the surprising truth: even racists lose out under white supremacy.

And US racism is everybody's problem. As McGhee shows, it was bigoted lending policies that laid the ground for the 2008 financial crisis. There can be little prospect of tackling global climate change until America's zero-sum delusions are defeated. The Sum of Us offers a priceless insight into the workings of prejudice, and a timely invitation to solidarity among all humans, 'to piece together a new story of who we could be to one another'.

Reviews

'Shocking [and] hard to argue with ... McGhee is on [an] ambitious mission. [Her] optimistic demeanour [and] research also inspires hope ... It is tantalisingly easy to embrace her vision' - Gillian Tett

'This is the book I've been waiting for' - Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author

'A must-read for everyone' - Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter

'Impactful ... McGhee weaves together personal anecdotes and family history, reporting and social science to present an image of what the United States is, but does not have to be. It is a picture some Americans grew up seeing, which others ignore at their peril' - Emily Tamkin

'With intelligence and care (as well as with a trove of sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes heart-opening true stories) Heather McGhee shows us what racism has cost all of us' - Elizabeth Gilbert

Author Bio

Heather McGhee is an expert in economic and social policy. The former president of the think tank Demos, she has drafted US legislation, testified before Congress and appeared on numerous news discussion shows. She chairs the board of Color of Change, America's largest online racial justice organization.