The Sum of Us Themes

In The Sum of Us, policy researcher Heather McGhee asks why the U.S. lags so far behind other developed countries when it comes to public goods (like infrastructure, healthcare, and public education) and quality of life (including wages, life expectancy, and violence). The problem, she argues, is that Americans can’t pass effective public policies because they’re divided by racism. Specifically, many white voters are stuck in a zero-sum paradigm: they assume that anything…

Heather McGhee decided to quit her job and write The Sum of Us after analyzing more than 15 years of her own policy research and realizing that, contrary to her lifelong assumptions, racism hurts white people too. McGhee’s most powerful example of this is drained swimming pools: from the 1950s onward, many American cities destroyed their extravagant public pools instead of racially integrating them. They literally destroyed a public good that benefited white people…

Heather McGhee dedicated her career to policy research because she sincerely believes that speaking truth to power can change the world. This belief doesn’t come from blind faith; rather, McGhee has formed it through two decades of experience working with activists, proposing legislation, lobbying Congress, and learning how past social movements have succeeded. Specifically, McGhee knows that good research is the foundation for effective activism, effective activism can sway elections and get lawmakers’ attention, and…