Reflections on “The Sum of Us” by Heather McGhee

I did something this summer that is a rarity in this busy-mom-who-likes-to-binge-Netflix’s life, I finished a book! A lot of the books I read these days are about antiracism and social justice and, in truth, they can be overwhelming and emotionally taxing (a toll I’m happy to pay as a privileged, White person), but they can often leave me exhausted. The book I read did have a focus on antiracism, but the difference is that it left me feeling hopeful, with a sense of optimism about our future that I haven’t had in a good long time. And that sense of hope is thanks to Heather McGhee’s amazing book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.

McGhee, an economist and public policy expert who once served as the Executive Director of Demos, a justice and equity-focused think tank, skillfully lays out the poignant argument that not only has racism harmed people of color, but White people as well in so many areas of society: healthcare, housing, the environment, wages, schools, etc. This wholesale disinvestment in the public good in America for Black, White, and Brown Americans alike was done through the White powers-that-be skillfully crafting a “zero-sum” message that has become part and parcel of right-wing propaganda today: if they get something, then you’ll lose something. And it has largely worked.

Early in the book, she describes a specific action by White folks in the U.S. South that carries through as a metaphor throughout the book. Once all public institutions were required to integrate by law, including resort-style public pools, many cities across the South decided to drain and destroy the pools instead of integrate. It was a concept that if Black and White people were going to be forced to swim together, then nobody can swim. The wealthier White families could, of course, go swim at the local country club, but not so for the lower-income or even middle-class White kids. This “draining the pool” metaphor weaves so clearly into all of the other specific examples she addresses throughout the book. All because White elites are convinced that if there is solidarity among races, they will lose, which, quite frankly, is true. The case for universal healthcare is made with this zero-sum argument, so is the case against unions, so is public schooling.

This is where we get to the hopeful part: it doesn’t have to be this way! And that’s a big part of what McGhee shows. She shows the zero-sum arguments, but she also shows the multi-racial coalitions that see through that argument illustrating to us that the work is already under way to tear down the zero-sum lie. She calls it the “solidarity dividend.” When we work together as a multi-racial coalition understanding our interests are similar and bound to each other, we can and will succeed to create a better society. 

I’ve been working on a story for Parents.com about just this in the realm of schools -- particularly about the Integrated Schools movement, of which I am a part. I even got to interview McGhee for the story (which was a true pleasure-- and stay tuned for that story as it is yet to be published). But it was an example that there are so many ways we White folks can and need to be a part of making this world a better place for everyone. We need to find and be a part of those multi-racial coalitions. For me as a parent of a White kid, that’s Integrated Schools. Maybe for you, it’s investing in the unions or community organizations near you. Knowing that if we work together to make change, we can actually see that it is possible. 

I’ll leave you with a quote in the book that really spoke to me. It’s a quote from McGhee’s mother, Dr. Gail Christopher who is a public health and social policy expert.

“It’s a powerful, liberating frame to realize that the fallacy of racial hierarchy is a belief system that we don’t have to have,” she says. “We can replace it with another way of looking at each other as human beings. Then, once you get that opening, you invite people to see a new way forward.”

Get the book for yourself at your local Black-owned bookstore -- if you want to get it from my local Black-owned bookstore, Third Eye Books, you can find it right here :)