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seeceeread's review
Racism is both a direct payment and a form of compounding interest.
McMillan is a banker's granddaughter, award winner, abused daughter, world traveler, bereaved child, investor who once used food stamps and contemplated a homeless shelter. Her ricochets through diverse class experiences and her tendency towards introspection set her up for central questions: What if whiteness offers more than DuBois' psychological wage—a material one? How might we begin to calculate it, then trace its shapeshifting?
With herself as central subject, McMillan claws at US mythology, and family stories she's not supposed to think, ask, or talk about: A grandfather whose mother raised him to successfully "pass." His wealth accumulation, and generosity, as essential to class mobility, from chaos to safety net. The roles of white terrorism groups, school segregation advocates, discriminatory housing policy ... to her advantage. Likewise, how racialized courts, unions, workplaces, higher ed, healthcare ... advantage still more white people.
The journalist aims to bring along sheepish white folks who have shelved wonders and swallowed misapprehensions about narratives of "who deserves" and decided to accept, rather than challenge, exploitation as inherent to the human experience. Complicity offers neither succor nor satisfaction, she realizes. She knows abuse interpersonally and leverages that understanding to grapple with structural and institutional abuses.
Her writing is straightforward and subtly builds, even as she frequently returns to key points. A full economic account of the effects of racism may be impossible. So, while I'm not overly impressed with the way she leans on "more likely to" as justification, I also appreciate that McMillan isn't aiming for a peer-reviewed academic analysis, here: she elevates back-of-the-napkin math on things the white collective needs to (at least) acknowledge.
kssntigger's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Fantastic book. Really explained white privilege and white bonus phenomenally well.
bassclef's review
3.25
Interesting premise and introduction, but ultimately DNF.
There were flashes of excellence, but also stretches of cumbersome detail, erratic pacing, and disjointed narrative. Overall, it felt lost in itself, both over- and under-supporting its ideas then only sporadically tying them together.
"Genre-bending" is welcome, however it needs to fit the subject matter and it still needs maintain a compelling through-line. Granted, I abandoned ship (during chapter 7 of 10). Maybe I missed something crucial. I just found myself adrift in a sea of backstory with no sense of clarity or direction.
I'd love to see this premise addressed in a more concise and connected way. The author is a skilled writer -- maybe tightening the editing and narrative vision could create a solid second edition.
There were flashes of excellence, but also stretches of cumbersome detail, erratic pacing, and disjointed narrative. Overall, it felt lost in itself, both over- and under-supporting its ideas then only sporadically tying them together.
"Genre-bending" is welcome, however it needs to fit the subject matter and it still needs maintain a compelling through-line. Granted, I abandoned ship (during chapter 7 of 10). Maybe I missed something crucial. I just found myself adrift in a sea of backstory with no sense of clarity or direction.
I'd love to see this premise addressed in a more concise and connected way. The author is a skilled writer -- maybe tightening the editing and narrative vision could create a solid second edition.
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