Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt and a collapsing public infrastructure, McGhee found a root problem in the failing American economy - racism. Racism in politics and policymaking extends beyond obvious indignities for people of color and presents a cost for white people. In this way, racism, the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy, and the constitutive of our spiritual and moral crises grips all of us. But how did this happen? And is there a way out? In The Sum of Us, a New York Times bestseller, McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country to answer these questions. Through it all, she discovers what she calls the “Solidarity Dividend,” a provable reality showing the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can’t do on our own.