The sum of us : : What Racism Costs Everyone and how we can Prosper Together

Locations
Call Number: 305.8 McG, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C., Black Studies 305.8 McG
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	305.8 McG	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	305.8 McG	4-week checkout	Due 05-17-2024
Malletts Adult Books 2-week checkout	Express Shelf Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	2-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 2-week checkout	Express Shelf Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	2-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 305.8 McG	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	4-week checkout	Due 05-22-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Race & Ethnicity / McGhee, Heather C.	4-week checkout	Due 05-08-2024
Downtown First Floor 2-week checkout	Express Shelf 305.8 McG	2-week checkout	Due 05-05-2024

An old story : the zero-sum hierarchy -- Racism starves the public -- Going without -- Ignoring the canary -- Working class solitary lost -- Never a real democracy -- Living apart -- The same sky -- The hidden wound -- The solitary dividend.
"Heather C. McGhee's specialty is the American economy--and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. As she dug into subject after subject, from the financial crisis to declining wages to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a common problem at the bottom of them all: racism--but not just in the obvious ways that hurt people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It's the common denominator in our most vexing public problems, even beyond our economy. It is at the core of the dysfunction of our democracy and even the spiritual and moral crises that grip us. Racism is a toxin in the American body and it weakens us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out? To find the way, McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Mississippi to Maine, tallying up what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she collects the stories of white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams and their shot at a better job to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to functioning schools--have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world's advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare. It's why we fail to prevent environmental and public health crises that require collective action. But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee also finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: gains that come when people come together across race, to the benefit of all involved"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Economic anti racism argument submitted by mowjac on September 3, 2021, 4:25pm McGee writes accessibly about how racism means that ALL of us suffer economically. There are facts, yes, and there are also stories of people's experiences. McGee highlights how necessary all voices are to the challenges of public health and the needed transformation in the face of climate change.

Necessary material with a new angle that has value submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 12, 2022, 12:06pm This book is an absolutely brilliant take, familiar and yet new, on racism and its costs. McGhee is a social justice advocate who comes to the field from the perspective of economics, asking the question “What does racism cost? What have we lost?” Most importantly (the new take), she does not just look at what people of color have lost (something well covered throughout history), but what have white people lost, and what has society as a whole lost? Topics include public services (e.g. swimming pools), student debt, Medicaid expansion, unions, voting rights, housing segregation and school integration, environmental racism, and color blindness (“why can’t we all just get along?”). McGhee has completely rewritten my understanding of the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis, which I had thought I understood pretty well after reading Andrew Ross Sorkin’s _Too Big to Fail_. Before I was thoughtful. Now I am *PISSED.* And then… McGhee talks about what works. Times and places when people have worked together (she calls it the Solidarity Dividend) and *everyone* benefits. She addresses the core functions that make that work.

_The Sum of Us_ is phenomenal. It is well written, thoroughly sourced, and easy to read (in style at least… the content may hurt your heart and/or make you righteously angry). It is necessary material with a new angle that has value. We should fix a problem that has any portion of society regularly harmed, but when the people doing the harming don’t think they are being harmed, it can take an extra set of information to get them to see that things should change. McGhee lays out solid arguments that on topic after topic after topic, those who set up the harmful system are also being harmed by it, even if they are not harmed the most. She lays out clearly than fixing the harm helps everyone. I can’t praise this book enough. I will recommend it to individuals and book clubs and anyone who will listen.