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

Heather McGhee

Published by One World in 2021

pp / $ / 978-0525509585

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Normally, non-fiction isn’t my wheelhouse.  As a middle school teacher, I tend to read books I can use in my classroom or fiction that makes my mind happy.  But earlier this year, I saw an Instagram post about Heather McGhee’s book that deals with the costs of racism, and I was curious.  Long ago, my boys labeled me the family “bleeding heart”, knowing that if someone is going to lash out against injustice, it’s going to be me.  When a quick search on my library app showed the audiobook available for listening, I hit borrow, and my education began.

In The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs All Of Us, author Heather McGhee offers an incredibly readable yet fully vetted narrative on how much the practice of racism costs all Americans.  She clearly outlines how student debt, the mortgage crisis, and the lack of accessible healthcare are often clearly rooted in practices mired in race. McGhee’s efforts to uncover why many Americans believe progress for some must mean less for others was engaging and eye-opening.  

McGhee began her work at Demos, a progressive think tank whose homepage reads: “Our name means ‘the people.’ It is the root word of democracy, and it reminds us that the true source of our greatness is the diversity of our people.”  McGhee’s work with Demos began by investigating the importance of public opinion and how it can shape the narrative of public policy. Along the way, she discovered how deep and how different the “costs” can run. She discovered the roots of racial and economic disparity and learned what will be needed to create a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy and economy. 

By highlighting both Black and White experiences, McGhee gives readers a compassionate yet daunting look at the varied costs of racism in America. Her no-nonsense, research-driven approach will appeal to most readers.  She presents information in a digestible manner that does not require several rereads to understand. But at the same time, McGhee challenges White assumptions of wealth and privilege by writing, “Racism, then, works against non-wealthy white Americans in two ways. First, it lowers their support for government actions that could help them economically out of a zero-sum fear that it could help the radicalized ‘undeserving’ as well.  But the racial polarization of our two-party system has forced a choice between class interest and perceived racial interest, and in every presidential election since the Civil Rights Act, the majority of white people choose the party of their race” (38). While this isn’t easy for many to accept and will challenge many, the way McGhee presents the relationship between race and economics is convincing. She convinces readers that we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm. She shows readers that progress for some comes at the expense of others but is not restricted to the obvious indignities of people of color. 

I appreciated the diversity of topics and examples McGhee uses.  Pollution, the housing crisis, student debt, and healthcare all make the list, but so does education, the GI Bill, and the Homestead Act of 1862.  By giving readers numerous examples of the financial cost of racism and racist policies, she makes a powerful case founded in good old-fashioned research based on evidence and science.  One example that specifically stuck with me for days began with a discussion of voting laws centered around having an ID to vote.  McGhee writes, “..about 11 percent of the U.S. population do not have access to photo IDs, six states still demand them in order for people to vote, and an additional twenty-six states made voting much easier if you had an ID… Of the fifty thousand already-registered Alabama voters estimated to lack proper photo ID to vote in 2016, more than half were white” (49).  Laws limiting voters based on ID were just as likely to disenfranchise White voters as they were Black voters. This singular idea reveals why we still need more people like McGhee, people willing to show that racist policies and practices detrimentally affect more than just the targeted people group. 

The Sum of Us is an accessible read.  I spent hours discussing the book with my boys, who are 18 and 20.  Our conversations were thought-provoking and spirited—often with me reading directly from the book to make a point, followed by them doing research to find out more.  Together, we wrestled with new ideas and hard truths and really talked about what McGhee’s research and ideas all meant for our nation, community, and family.  

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from reading McGhee’s book is that discussion, information, and willingness to listen are crucial to eliciting the change we need.  If only we were able to listen to hard truths and respond in a compassionate and caring manner—and then work together to make change instead of being indifferent and divided. From churches to colleges to elections, we need more people willing to consider that a “zero-sum” game for some could instead be a “win-win” for all.