Education centered on race has historically been contentious, and the debate around it is at a tipping point again. The Advanced Placement program has pared down its African American studies curriculum, lessons involving critical race theory have faced huge pushback and the list of books banned in some communities is growing.

However, there does still seem to be an appetite for resources about race and racism for young people. One new resource comes from a 2021 book by Heather McGhee, “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.” It examines how America ended up with a lack of social safety nets and public goods because of racism. And now, that book has been adapted for young readers.

McGhee joined Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams to talk about the racial components of America’s problems and the feedback she’s received from students, parents and educators. An edited transcript of their conversation follows.

Kimberly Adams: The title of the book, “The Sum of Us,” reflects this idea that you really unpack in the book, where some people see racism as a zero-sum game. Can you just explain that idea again?

Heather McGhee: Yeah. It’s a very common worldview in the U.S. It’s this idea that there’s sort of a fixed pie of well-being. And if one racial and ethnic group gets a bigger slice, then the other groups must get a smaller slice. Black folks, brown folks, generally speaking, don’t tend to think that our progress as people of color has to come at white folks’ expense. But according to the data, the opposite isn’t true. And so it’s this zero-sum thinking that makes us often at odds with one another, when we would all be better off if we were looking for common solutions to our common problems.

Adams: Your original book focused on how racism shaped the public goods we enjoy in this country today. There’s a ton in there about the economy, politics, as well as the violence involved in some of these policy shifts over time. How did you think about adapting some of these very heavy themes for a younger audience?

McGhee: Well, as I talk to young people about this idea, the No. 1 thing that I heard from them was, “Don’t dumb it down. We’re young, but we’re not stupid.” Which honestly was a learning for me. I don’t at all pull any punches about how terrible slavery was. But I focus on the part that they might not get anywhere other than this book, which is the economic parts of slavery, because this is our history. It’s our shared history. And so many adults have told me they were outraged that they didn’t know. And I don’t want another generation to grow up in that ignorance.

Adams: What have you been hearing from parents and teachers so far about the adaptation or even from young readers themselves?

McGhee: Well, you know, it’s been fascinating and fun. My book tour for this book is taking me into schools and libraries and talking to educators and librarians and parents. And one thing they have said is that it feels very relevant to them. And it helps explain some of the things that just kind of make no sense, right? Why do we have college priced out of reach when it’s the ticket to the middle class, you know? And when it’s what everything in society tells us to do? So, there’s some of this explaining some of the most inexplicable ways in which this country is kind of hamstringing itself.

Adams: You just mentioned that you’re going into schools and libraries. But all over the country, books and curricula about America’s history of racism are being limited, or sometimes outright banned. What kind of effect do you expect this trend to have on the reach of your book?

McGhee: You know, obviously, the thought has crossed my mind. But I think what’s exciting about this movement — which frankly, these book bans are an attempt to stop this movement that has had so many more people, white, Black and brown, curious about our history and willing to look at the many, many aspects of systemic racism — is that once you know how bad it was, you can find other heroes to celebrate. You can look at the young, white students in the Freedom Summer who went down to Mississippi and opened up Freedom Schools and registered people to vote. And [you] think, “God, they did that against the odds and against death threats.” And it’s even more amazing when you understand the totality of the forces that were arrayed against them. So, I think there’s plenty to be proud of. We don’t need to ban this history in order to protect white students’ feelings. That’s certainly not what I’m hearing when I’m out on the road talking to white students in schools and libraries across the country.

Adams: Have you heard about your book being banned anywhere?

McGhee: Not yet. It’s only been out for a little bit. But, you know, the book has, I think, a message that should scare many of the people who are using these book bans as a partisan strategy. And ultimately, I think that the goal is to attack public funding. So, like so much of strategic racism in our politics, there’s ultimately an economic goal at the end.

Adams: Given what you’ve learned adapting this book for a younger audience, what tips would you have for parents when they are trying to talk to their kids about this stuff?

McGhee: That’s a great question. You know, I think ultimately, try to really make it rooted in the context of your young person’s own life. Schools, the issue of the cost of college, climate change, guns, right? These are issues that, if you peel back the onion, there’s a real racial story involved in it. It helps make a little bit of sense of some of the dysfunction that seems honestly kind of impossible to justify. But when you realize that so much of our dysfunction comes from our unwillingness across racial lines to come together, then it begins to make more sense. And then honestly, there’s even more energy for creating the kinds of cross-racial coalitions that are the real key to having breakthroughs in the interest of most working families.

Correction (March 7, 2023): A previous version of this story misidentified the photo caption.

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