The Sum of Us

In The Sum of Us, McGhee cites the draining of public pools as an example of racism’s impact on public benefits. She also uses public pools as a metaphor. Describe how the draining of pools serves as a metaphor, drawing connections with other public policies cited in the book.

McGhee describes herself as an optimistic person who believes that solutions can be found to America’s longstanding problems. Cite three of these problems and describe how people are responding to them, examining how they’re overcoming racial divisions to do so.

In Chapter 4 McGhee notes that while the average white family had nearly $200,000 in wealth in 2016, the average Black family had only $17,600. Describe how this disparity was created by racism, citing examples of specific government policies.