Overview

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'.

Full Product Details

9781788169660

Table of Contents

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

Hard to argue with ... The Sum of Us should be required reading -- Gillian Tett * FT * This is the book I've been waiting for -- Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author * How to Be an Antiracist * 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 * New Statesman * 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 * Eat, Pray, Love * A vital, urgent, stirring, beautifully written book that offers a compassionate roadmap out of our present troubled moment -- George Saunders, Booker Prize-winning author There is a striking clarity to this book; there is also a depth of kindness in it that all but the most churlish readers will find moving -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times * Very real, and very hopeful, and that's the rarest of combinations. It will be a classic on the day it's published -- Bill McKibben, author * Falter * The beauty and power of this book is blinding. Heather McGhee is one of our society's brightest minds and The Sum of Us serves as a torch that we must follow to get us to a better place. The impact of racism is all encompassing, and this book doesn't just highlight that, it gives us a road map for the future. I am better because of this book. Our country will be better because of this book. -- Wes Moore, bestselling author of Five Days and The Other Wes Moore A powerful, singular, and prescriptive blend of the macro and the intimate. * O Magazine * Political commentator McGhee argues in her astute and persuasive debut that income inequality and the decline of the middle and working classes are a direct result of the country's long history of racial injustice ... This sharp, thorough, and engrossing report casts America's racial divide in a new light. * Publishers Weekly, starred * An eye-opening, powerful argument for working ever harder for racial equity. * Kirkus, starred * Heather McGhee does not shy away from telling hard truths. Racism sits at the heart of America, and McGhee shows its effects on the very people who cleave to it. The Sum of Us removes the cloak from this land of so-called innocents and brilliantly offers a path forward for the nation. This book is for all of us standing in the breach, working towards social change. With care and unflinching honesty, McGhee has written an extraordinary book for these difficult days. -- Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again If you want one book that not only gives you powerful insight into why and how racism is such a scourge in America today, but also lays out a way to think about this in a more positive - even optimistic - sense for the future, Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us should be required reading. Although she focuses on the African-American community and Black Lives Matter messages, McGhee's ideas can be transplanted anywhere -- Gillian Tett * FT *

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 * FT * This is the book I've been waiting for -- Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author * How to Be an Antiracist * 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 * New Statesman * 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 * Eat, Pray, Love * A vital, urgent, stirring, beautifully written book that offers a compassionate roadmap out of our present troubled moment -- George Saunders, Booker Prize-winning author There is a striking clarity to this book; there is also a depth of kindness in it that all but the most churlish readers will find moving -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times * Very real, and very hopeful, and that's the rarest of combinations. It will be a classic on the day it's published -- Bill McKibben, author * Falter * The beauty and power of this book is blinding. Heather McGhee is one of our society's brightest minds and The Sum of Us serves as a torch that we must follow to get us to a better place. The impact of racism is all encompassing, and this book doesn't just highlight that, it gives us a road map for the future. I am better because of this book. Our country will be better because of this book. -- Wes Moore, bestselling author of Five Days and The Other Wes Moore A powerful, singular, and prescriptive blend of the macro and the intimate. * O Magazine * Political commentator McGhee argues in her astute and persuasive debut that income inequality and the decline of the middle and working classes are a direct result of the country's long history of racial injustice ... This sharp, thorough, and engrossing report casts America's racial divide in a new light. * Publishers Weekly, starred * An eye-opening, powerful argument for working ever harder for racial equity. * Kirkus, starred * Heather McGhee does not shy away from telling hard truths. Racism sits at the heart of America, and McGhee shows its effects on the very people who cleave to it. The Sum of Us removes the cloak from this land of so-called innocents and brilliantly offers a path forward for the nation. This book is for all of us standing in the breach, working towards social change. With care and unflinching honesty, McGhee has written an extraordinary book for these difficult days. -- Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again If you want one book that not only gives you powerful insight into why and how racism is such a scourge in America today, but also lays out a way to think about this in a more positive - even optimistic - sense for the future, Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us should be required reading. Although she focuses on the African-American community and Black Lives Matter messages, McGhee's ideas can be transplanted anywhere -- Gillian Tett * FT *

Author Information

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.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available