Book Review

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

by Heather McGhee 

One World, 2021

448 pages. Hardcover, $28.00

This book is by the former president of the progressive think tank Demos, and current chair of the board of Color of Change, a nationwide online racial justice organization. Read a February 17, 202 NPR interview with the author. McGhee examines both the macro and micro sides of inequality and who is damaged by racism and possible ways to lessen the problems. In addition to the most current statistics and information about racism and its damages, the book has a series of interviews all over the U.S. with those people affected by and those denying racism and its consequences.

Her book has been popular and widely praised because it challenges the actions and opinions of both advocates for dismantling racism as well as those denying problems exist. It was a New York Times bestseller, was longlisted for the National Book Award; won the Porchlight Business Book award; cited as one of the best books of the years by Time, the Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ms. magazine, BookRiot, Library Journal, etc. Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, said “This is the book I’ve been waiting for.”

“[McGhee] takes readers on an intimate odyssey across our country’s racial divide to explore why some believe that progress for some comes at the expense of others. Along the way, McGhee speaks with white people who confide in her about losing jobs, homes, and hope, and considers white supremacy’s collateral victims. Ultimately, McGhee—a Black woman viewing multiracial America with startling empathy—finds proof of what she terms the Solidarity Dividend: the momentous benefits that derive when people come together across race. A powerful, singular, and prescriptive blend of the macro and the intimate.” O: The Oprah Magazine.