Revisiting Heather McGhee on How Racism Hurts Us All

Heather McGhee has been in public policy for the past 20 years, largely focused on economics. After nearly 16 years at Demos, a "think-and-do" tank, including four years as president, she realized that despite incredibly compelling economic research, at times, decision makers made decisions counter to what the best evidence showed. She took a leave of absence as president, and embarked on a journey to try to answer a simple question - Why can't we have nice things? We, being all Americans, and nice things being things that most developed nations have managed to provide for their people - health care, parental leave, a social safety net, and, of course, a good school in every neighborhood.  
Her journey took her across the country for conversations with all sorts of people, and led to the new book, The Sum of Us, which was released on paperback today, Feb 8th, 2022, and includes a new afterword.

We revisit the episode with new commentary from Andrew and Val. If you heard the interview already, the new commentary starts around the 50 minute mark.

LINKS:

The Sum Of Us

Our Bookshop.org Storefront



Demos - Public Policy "Think-and-Do" Tank

Ta-Nehesi Coats - The Case for Reparations


Dr. Gail Christopher

HealOurCommunities.org


Adrian Piper - Conceptual Artist

Sherrilyn Ifill

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Black Doll Test

Debra Holoien

Chase Bellingham and Matthew Hunt

Kellogg Foundation


The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander


The Color of Law - Richard Rothstein


Bryan Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiative


Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us. 
Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.
Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us hello@integratedschools.org.
We are a proud member of The Connectd Podcast Network.
The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.
This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.
Music by Kevin Casey.