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The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America
A genre-bending work of journalism and memoir by award-winning writer Tracie McMillan tallies the cash benefit—and cost—of racism in America.
In The White Bonus, McMillan asks a provocative question about racism in America: When people of color are denied so much, what are white people given? And how much is it worth—not in amorphous privilege, but in dollars and cents?
McMillan begins with three generations of her family, tracking their modest wealth to its roots: American policy that helped whites first. Simultaneously, she details the complexities of their advantage, exploring her mother’s death in a nursing home, at 44, on Medicaid; her family's implosion; and a small inheritance from a banker grandfather. In the process, McMillan puts a cash value to whiteness in her life and assesses its worth.
McMillan then expands her investigation to four other white subjects of different generations across the U.S. Alternating between these subjects and her family, McMillan shows how, and to what degree, racial privilege begets material advantage across class, time, and place.
For readers of Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility and Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us, McMillan brings groundbreaking insight on the white working class. And for readers of Tara Westover’s Educated and Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, McMillan reckons intimately with the connection between the abuse we endure at home and the abuse America allows in public.
In The White Bonus, McMillan asks a provocative question about racism in America: When people of color are denied so much, what are white people given? And how much is it worth—not in amorphous privilege, but in dollars and cents?
McMillan begins with three generations of her family, tracking their modest wealth to its roots: American policy that helped whites first. Simultaneously, she details the complexities of their advantage, exploring her mother’s death in a nursing home, at 44, on Medicaid; her family's implosion; and a small inheritance from a banker grandfather. In the process, McMillan puts a cash value to whiteness in her life and assesses its worth.
McMillan then expands her investigation to four other white subjects of different generations across the U.S. Alternating between these subjects and her family, McMillan shows how, and to what degree, racial privilege begets material advantage across class, time, and place.
For readers of Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility and Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us, McMillan brings groundbreaking insight on the white working class. And for readers of Tara Westover’s Educated and Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, McMillan reckons intimately with the connection between the abuse we endure at home and the abuse America allows in public.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published April 23, 2024
53 people are currently reading
3786 people want to read
About the author
Tracie McMillan
12 books73 followersA transplant from rural Michigan, Brooklyn-based writer Tracie McMillan is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table. Mixing immersive reporting, undercover investigative techniques and “moving first-person narrative” (Wall Street Journal), McMillan’s book argues for thinking of fresh, healthy food as a public and social good—a stance that inspired The New York Times to call her “a voice the food world needs” and Rush Limbaugh to single her out as an “overeducated” “authorette” and “threat to liberty.” In 2012, Whole Living magazine named her a "Food Visionary," building on her numerous appearances on radio and television programs, which range from the liberal The Rachel Maddow Show to the “tea-party favorite” Peter Schiff Show. She has written about food and class for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, Saveur, and Slate.
McMillan moved into writing about food after a successful stint as a poverty and welfare reporter while working as the managing editor of the award-winning magazine City Limits in New York City. While there, she won recognition from organizations ranging from the James Beard Foundation to World Hunger Year. In 2013, she was named a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan, a year after she was named a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. In 2023, she began editing coverage of worker organizing for the award-winning news site, Capital & Main.
Visit her at TracieMcMillan.com or follow her at @TMMcMillan.
McMillan moved into writing about food after a successful stint as a poverty and welfare reporter while working as the managing editor of the award-winning magazine City Limits in New York City. While there, she won recognition from organizations ranging from the James Beard Foundation to World Hunger Year. In 2013, she was named a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan, a year after she was named a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. In 2023, she began editing coverage of worker organizing for the award-winning news site, Capital & Main.
Visit her at TracieMcMillan.com or follow her at @TMMcMillan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 1, 2024
This is such an important read. Combining journalism and memoir, the author traces the circumstances of her own family across several generations and points to the lasting ripple effects of the unseen advantages they’ve had for being white. For instance, her father is wealthy because he inherited money from her grandfather, who was successful in part because he benefited from the GI Bill and home-buying incentives that were inaccessible to people of colour. She also profiles several other white families, while pointing to the structural forces that shaped their lives. Overall, I learned a lot from this book and I appreciate all of the research that went into it.
June 21, 2024
This book had potential but felt more like a memoir than investigative journalism or facts. Which is fine, but not want I was hoping to get out of reading it. It didn’t help that several times she mentioned “I’m a journalist, not a scholar”. Points were made but overall they didn’t feel strong enough or super compelling. For a more comprehensive read I’d suggest Dorothy Browns book as she is far more knowledgeable in the history of taxes and systemic issues.
2024
October 7, 2025Non-fiction November TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co.
May 27, 2024
Part journalistic review of institional racism, told through personal stories, and part personal cathartic autobiography (sort of Nickel and Dimed meets Educated).
I learned a lot about systemic and institutional racism. I've always understood it was there (I'm not a denier of that) but didn't understand where (and why) some things originated and the extent to which many went to stoke it. I'm better informed because I read this book.
To be honest, the author's cathartic writing detracts from the rest of her message. She had a lot of tragedy in her growing up years that no one should have to experience. And, she deserves much praise for working through her feelings, biases, and behaviors to become the best person she can be. I understand how emotionally helpful it can be to write down one's experience. I also understand how destructive it can be. My opinion is the author went too far exposing her "oppressors" in a venue that was not necessary. She can help those who are abused find their voice in many ways. She can tell her story of abuse in many ways. And she has the right and, maybe the responsibility to do both. There are ways to tell those stories, like Tara Westover did, with anger, pity, blame and hostility. There are ways to tell those stories, like Jeannette Walls did, making sure the reader knows what is and is not acceptable and making sure the reader understands the effects of one's experiences without exacting revenge. Unfortunately, I believe the author sounded like she was more interested in outing her family than she was in telling a story to be helpful to others. And, all of that was, frankly, unnecessary to make most of the extraordinarily important points of institutional racism and the toll it takes on everyone. Her story of parental abuse was not integral to the story of institional racism. While her experiences may have helped her understand what it feels like to be helpless, it in no way helped her to understand what it is like to be black in America (or anywhere else). I'm not sure why she needed to include all of her story, not sure why the publisher thought it added to the book and disappointed that she didn't use that energy and "space on the page" to make more points about systemic racism.
I learned a lot about systemic and institutional racism. I've always understood it was there (I'm not a denier of that) but didn't understand where (and why) some things originated and the extent to which many went to stoke it. I'm better informed because I read this book.
To be honest, the author's cathartic writing detracts from the rest of her message. She had a lot of tragedy in her growing up years that no one should have to experience. And, she deserves much praise for working through her feelings, biases, and behaviors to become the best person she can be. I understand how emotionally helpful it can be to write down one's experience. I also understand how destructive it can be. My opinion is the author went too far exposing her "oppressors" in a venue that was not necessary. She can help those who are abused find their voice in many ways. She can tell her story of abuse in many ways. And she has the right and, maybe the responsibility to do both. There are ways to tell those stories, like Tara Westover did, with anger, pity, blame and hostility. There are ways to tell those stories, like Jeannette Walls did, making sure the reader knows what is and is not acceptable and making sure the reader understands the effects of one's experiences without exacting revenge. Unfortunately, I believe the author sounded like she was more interested in outing her family than she was in telling a story to be helpful to others. And, all of that was, frankly, unnecessary to make most of the extraordinarily important points of institutional racism and the toll it takes on everyone. Her story of parental abuse was not integral to the story of institional racism. While her experiences may have helped her understand what it feels like to be helpless, it in no way helped her to understand what it is like to be black in America (or anywhere else). I'm not sure why she needed to include all of her story, not sure why the publisher thought it added to the book and disappointed that she didn't use that energy and "space on the page" to make more points about systemic racism.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2024
As I focus a lot of my perinatal quality initiatives on the maternal and infant mortality rates for black and Hispanic women, I was drawn to this book instantly. Unfortunately, it did not offer much insight that I didn't already know or experienced or witnessed myself growing up in a biracial family. This would be a decent book for someone who is just starting to understand and learn what white privilege is, but it was hard for the author's experiences to resonate with me.
April 21, 2025
4/5
*Giveaway winner review*
Good intro book to start discussions with the average white person who doesn't believe in white privilege.
*Giveaway winner review*
Good intro book to start discussions with the average white person who doesn't believe in white privilege.
May 23, 2024
Nothing but left-wing, hate America, cultural war propaganda.
May 21, 2024
Right at the beginning in the introduction the author explains that white privilege, any privilege, is like being given things to help guide us across a river. The biggest pieces are maleness and whiteness. Nothing I have read has ever explained this concept so well! As a woman who grew up neglected and in poverty I have heard other white people explain that a poor white poor is not given an advantage over a poor black boy, but I know that is not true. This book reinforced that knowledge. It is telling how they always use boys for that example too.
I know as an upper middle class white woman I can get away with things my mexican sister cannot, even though I do also have to live with this massive wage gap and other things that affect women, it is harder for my sister.
Anyway, I appreciated this book.
I know as an upper middle class white woman I can get away with things my mexican sister cannot, even though I do also have to live with this massive wage gap and other things that affect women, it is harder for my sister.
Anyway, I appreciated this book.
July 2, 2024
I enjoyed this. McMillan is a very engaging storyteller.
I appreciate how she tried to negate the argument that "white privilege doesn't exist, I'm white and I've had a hard life". So many white people don't understand that they still have had many advantages due to white privilege, no matter the hardships they've faced. McMillan had an extremely difficult childhood, and still is clear about the advantages her whiteness brought her. And she mixes in stories from 4 other families who all have had hardships, but white advantages as well.
I think she was trying to do a bit too much here though. It maybe should've been two separate books -- one focusing on white families with struggles and one memoir of her own rough childhood. I would probably have given it 3.5 stars, except I'm bumping up to counterbalance the "this is woke, 1 star" dummies.
I appreciate how she tried to negate the argument that "white privilege doesn't exist, I'm white and I've had a hard life". So many white people don't understand that they still have had many advantages due to white privilege, no matter the hardships they've faced. McMillan had an extremely difficult childhood, and still is clear about the advantages her whiteness brought her. And she mixes in stories from 4 other families who all have had hardships, but white advantages as well.
I think she was trying to do a bit too much here though. It maybe should've been two separate books -- one focusing on white families with struggles and one memoir of her own rough childhood. I would probably have given it 3.5 stars, except I'm bumping up to counterbalance the "this is woke, 1 star" dummies.
September 22, 2025
This isn't anything to do with the book really, but she reached out to my work for help with some of the data and she's super nice!!!! Which, actually, I think is important!
This is kind of part data/mostly stories and journalism... reminded me of The Dreamkeepers in the writing. She gets really vulnerable with her own story too which I appreciated.
This is kind of part data/mostly stories and journalism... reminded me of The Dreamkeepers in the writing. She gets really vulnerable with her own story too which I appreciated.
January 29, 2025
This book is like memoir mixed with storytelling journalism and a fine critique of the racist structures that benefit some but not all in the US. Highly recommend!
September 5, 2024
Astonishing, appalling, and ashamed - feelings experienced while reading McMillan's book. This was an uncomfortable read for me both because of the subject matter and her expose of her own family's tragedies, abuses, and secrets. She's a good writer.
Noteworthy quotes that offer things to think about:
"...in his shoes, I might have floated along, mindless of whether I had earned what I had, and whether it had been given to me for reasons beyond my control or comprehension. How it might not even occur to me to object to the ways in which it was unfair; how I would be compelled to defend what I had, worried that it might be taken away. I can see how, in my father's shoes, I would do no better." p 75
"Before the 1960s and the gains of the civil rights movement, white America saw public spending as something that benefited 'everyone.' (The implicit assumption was that everyone was white, and that other people could be excluded.) But starting in the 1960s, Republicians began to talk about public spending as 'welfare' - something that benefited only people of color, and for which taxpayers should not have to pay. They did not mention that Black and brown Americans had long been paying taxes that funded programs overwhelmingly designed to benefit white people far more than themselves, such as FHA mortgages and the G.I . Bill. They mentioned only that Black and brown people, who they did not believe deserved help, were receiving it." p 80
"There are many theories and explanations for why America spends so little [on social supports]. They can be found in histories and sociological studies, in analyses based on economics and politics. But one of the most widely accepted threads running through all of these explanations for our lack of safety net is this: White racism has so contorted American politics and institutions of government that broad redistribution has faltered badly here." p 221
"Even for the insured, medical decisions are often a thinly veiled calculation between the risk of bankruptcy and the risk of death. Plans that are affordable insure us only against full bankruptcy each year, not that we can afford the care we need. In the end, the only unmitigated beneficiaries are the companies selling the 'product' of health insurance and the providers - medical groups and hospitals - who are paid for the care insurance is intended to cover. By 2018, health insurance stocks had outperformed the S&P 500 by 106 percent, largely because so much government spending had increased their profits." p 241
"My family does not have to be like this. Our country does not have to be like this. Our economy doesn't, either. We just have to be willing... as my family is not, as many white people are not, as many people of all races and places are not - to reckon honestly with what we have done and build from there." p 306
Noteworthy quotes that offer things to think about:
"...in his shoes, I might have floated along, mindless of whether I had earned what I had, and whether it had been given to me for reasons beyond my control or comprehension. How it might not even occur to me to object to the ways in which it was unfair; how I would be compelled to defend what I had, worried that it might be taken away. I can see how, in my father's shoes, I would do no better." p 75
"Before the 1960s and the gains of the civil rights movement, white America saw public spending as something that benefited 'everyone.' (The implicit assumption was that everyone was white, and that other people could be excluded.) But starting in the 1960s, Republicians began to talk about public spending as 'welfare' - something that benefited only people of color, and for which taxpayers should not have to pay. They did not mention that Black and brown Americans had long been paying taxes that funded programs overwhelmingly designed to benefit white people far more than themselves, such as FHA mortgages and the G.I . Bill. They mentioned only that Black and brown people, who they did not believe deserved help, were receiving it." p 80
"There are many theories and explanations for why America spends so little [on social supports]. They can be found in histories and sociological studies, in analyses based on economics and politics. But one of the most widely accepted threads running through all of these explanations for our lack of safety net is this: White racism has so contorted American politics and institutions of government that broad redistribution has faltered badly here." p 221
"Even for the insured, medical decisions are often a thinly veiled calculation between the risk of bankruptcy and the risk of death. Plans that are affordable insure us only against full bankruptcy each year, not that we can afford the care we need. In the end, the only unmitigated beneficiaries are the companies selling the 'product' of health insurance and the providers - medical groups and hospitals - who are paid for the care insurance is intended to cover. By 2018, health insurance stocks had outperformed the S&P 500 by 106 percent, largely because so much government spending had increased their profits." p 241
"My family does not have to be like this. Our country does not have to be like this. Our economy doesn't, either. We just have to be willing... as my family is not, as many white people are not, as many people of all races and places are not - to reckon honestly with what we have done and build from there." p 306
May 31, 2024
McMillan's book provides the hard working, middle class and Caucasian population with the tools to understand how they have privilege. We feel we have earned every penny, and we have, but we don't recognize that the bonus we received was the opportunity to pursue education and job opportunities.
McMillan's deep dive research into generational wealth is unprecedented.
Thanks to the author for providing new insights into the ways racism is woven into our everyday lives.
McMillan's deep dive research into generational wealth is unprecedented.
Thanks to the author for providing new insights into the ways racism is woven into our everyday lives.
May 27, 2024
This book gave a lot of perspective and research to things I hadn’t thought of before or traced back to how things that happened generations ago can still have such an impact on families today. I also think the author set out to do too much with this book, which left a lot of threads only partially unraveled and dots not connected. I appreciated that she used her own family life and history to explore anecdotes we’ve all heard, and to explore the history of that experience and how it might be a different experience for someone else. It made me think and I appreciate that.
August 13, 2024
The author blends her personal story with the stories of a few other people that she has interviewed. By doing so, the book is very narrative driven. While she does her research into the "white bonus" of racism in America, the book is not primarily statistically driven. To be honest, more statistics and some consultation with experts, such as Richard Rothstein, Ira Katznelson, John A. Powell, etc., after all, the author is an investigative journalist, would have given the book more credibility and helped her arguments.
The narrative structure does make the book interesting, readable, and relatable. It just could have used a bit more authority and expertise. Her argument is sound. She does show how even white people, who are not doing well financially, are able to benefit from a system that has not disadvantaged them to the same extent as others.
The book is certainly worth reading.
The narrative structure does make the book interesting, readable, and relatable. It just could have used a bit more authority and expertise. Her argument is sound. She does show how even white people, who are not doing well financially, are able to benefit from a system that has not disadvantaged them to the same extent as others.
The book is certainly worth reading.
June 16, 2024
CW: graphic depictions of physical and emotional abuse, and sexual assault
May 30, 2024
The White Bonus by Tracy McMillan reminds me of those test that you get an elementary school when the teacher tells you to read all the instructions before starting in at the bottom of the test it says just sign and date and you’re done. Because at the end of the book the author insinuates she may not even be white so every example in personal things she put in the book is questionable. Now having said that to say that government programs are racist is ridiculous I do believe that some cops are racist I do believe that racism exist not only in this country but in every country in the world there’s some form of racism. People or a••holes I do think people look at others and pass judgment instantly we have a history of on fair treatment in this country not only to minorities but to the poor disabled those in the LGBT community the list goes on and on I don’t understand making it white versus black because people get mistreated for many reasons I do think we are trying to do better in this country it will never be perfect utopia is a fallacy in a dream that really doesn’t exist in reality but I think the fact that things are improving is a good sign. I believe the more minorities that own businesses and get in powerful positions will change the ratio dichotomy and that is changing daily. It is easy to point to the past and say see look how racist but I think we have beaten the dead horse into oblivion and now should work on ways to make it better instead of just pointing at it and saying look how terrible that is. Also how was this book genre bending when it is non-fiction… I really would like an answer to this. I want to thank Henry Holt and Company for my free arc copy via NetGalley. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
November 15, 2023
I was so intrigued by this book. What does being "white" buy you? what does being "white" cost a society.
Through the lens of the authors own life, we delve into the cost of white privilege,
The author divided up the book into sections, mainly: Real estate, schooling, criminal justice, medical, and rent control.
The author focused most of her attention upon the first two. The rest were after thoughts.
She dived headfirst into racial convents and how the school system works only on property taxes.
These two were almost half of the book.
They were thoroughly researched and ponderous.
Then the book slides.
She talks about a juvenile who was caught with Acid. The judge let him go with community supervision and community service.
Then medical. Poor Barb. Yet there was no tie in to realize what did Barb's "whiteness" get her for medical care? I was completely confused as to this chapter and the things that were left out.
For instance the author could have stated that Barb would have been treated better via hospital staff if she had gone, the mortality rates of whites and other races, etc.
The author doesn't even touch it.
Then the shocker at the end...she might not be white?! What?! I was confused. Did this just negate everything that I read?
Bottom line, I think that the book does a great job with the first two subjects of real property ownership and segregated schooling.
Everything else was just thrown into the book, not caring if it stuck or not.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
Through the lens of the authors own life, we delve into the cost of white privilege,
The author divided up the book into sections, mainly: Real estate, schooling, criminal justice, medical, and rent control.
The author focused most of her attention upon the first two. The rest were after thoughts.
She dived headfirst into racial convents and how the school system works only on property taxes.
These two were almost half of the book.
They were thoroughly researched and ponderous.
Then the book slides.
She talks about a juvenile who was caught with Acid. The judge let him go with community supervision and community service.
Then medical. Poor Barb. Yet there was no tie in to realize what did Barb's "whiteness" get her for medical care? I was completely confused as to this chapter and the things that were left out.
For instance the author could have stated that Barb would have been treated better via hospital staff if she had gone, the mortality rates of whites and other races, etc.
The author doesn't even touch it.
Then the shocker at the end...she might not be white?! What?! I was confused. Did this just negate everything that I read?
Bottom line, I think that the book does a great job with the first two subjects of real property ownership and segregated schooling.
Everything else was just thrown into the book, not caring if it stuck or not.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
March 27, 2025
There has been a deluge of books on racism published recently, especially after the George Floyd protests, and they have been... of varying quality, let's just say. I was a bit hesitant about reading a book written by a white woman about racism, seeing as how similar books (or ones that discuss racism but that isn't the main focus) do a lot of hand-wringing about racism, yet always carry the distinct feeling of the authors not actually fully grappling with racism (hell, I've read books by POC authors that also fall into this trap). I was quite pleasantly surprised when I realized that McMillan was different, that she examined, through data and anecdotes, the way white people have directly benefited from racism and the ways in which white people will avoid and justify such things. There's no self-flagellation that is so common among those aforementioned books, just McMillan stating, without fuss or fanfare, that her life has been made easier because she is white, that she has had access to resources that non-white people are excluded from, that she was able to grow up ignorant of the cruelty of racism, that she had an easier time crawling out of poverty because she was white. And while there are moments of "this would be surprising if you didn't know what racism is," she largely manages to present something unique, a perspective very lacking in these discussions.
I do think, though, that she could have done a better job of connecting her story to the stories of those she interviewed to the facts she presents. A revision or two could have made this a much tighter, harder hitting book.
I do think, though, that she could have done a better job of connecting her story to the stories of those she interviewed to the facts she presents. A revision or two could have made this a much tighter, harder hitting book.
April 26, 2024
The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America by Tracie McMillan is the type of nonfiction I generally like most -- it explores the costs of racism and the lack of social justice through both a personal lens and a highly researched history.
As much as I like the book, though, it had some flaws that concerned me.
It tried to tackle too many things. Real estate and education were the main focus, and I think perhaps it should have stopped there. But it also tackled criminal justice and medicine. These topics felt superfluous, because there wasn't enough written on either topic. The research behind the first two topics was thorough and the author shared so much information that I didn't already know. I learned a great deal. At these points in the book I actually thought this might be a 5 star book. Unfortunately, the other topics were just as complex but without the same level of attention.
And then there was a big twist at the end about her family history. It felt misplaced, and ineffective. This moment almost negated her entire thesis, and I was very disappointed and confused.
Thanks to the publisher for my #gifted copy. The review reflects my honest opinion.
As much as I like the book, though, it had some flaws that concerned me.
It tried to tackle too many things. Real estate and education were the main focus, and I think perhaps it should have stopped there. But it also tackled criminal justice and medicine. These topics felt superfluous, because there wasn't enough written on either topic. The research behind the first two topics was thorough and the author shared so much information that I didn't already know. I learned a great deal. At these points in the book I actually thought this might be a 5 star book. Unfortunately, the other topics were just as complex but without the same level of attention.
And then there was a big twist at the end about her family history. It felt misplaced, and ineffective. This moment almost negated her entire thesis, and I was very disappointed and confused.
Thanks to the publisher for my #gifted copy. The review reflects my honest opinion.
July 21, 2024
This is an excellent and thought-provoking book. I’m glad she wrote it and I hope lots of white people read it.
It was about 60% reporting and 40% memoir. That is not a combination I am used to, and it sometimes felt awkward to me. However, she was basically using her life and her family to illustrate her contention about race, so it made sense—it just sometimes felt messy (are we talking about you and your feelings or are we talking about a national state of affairs?).
I did not love her ending, because it felt like a journalist rather than a policy analyst or even an activist. She ends her huge book and basically asks what you’re going to do about it. There were no suggestions or ideas for X next steps you can take to address all the terrible things in the book. My fear is that a lot of readers will be struck by the book but have NO idea of what to do about it. So that felt like a big old opportunity lost.
Lastly, I don’t think the description of the book on here is great. She really didn’t quantify her white bonus (that would be a cost benefit analysis, and she didn’t get into anything that comprehensive). She is pointing out times and specific ways her “white bonus” kicked in, but she really hasn’t quantified it across her life like this description says.
It was about 60% reporting and 40% memoir. That is not a combination I am used to, and it sometimes felt awkward to me. However, she was basically using her life and her family to illustrate her contention about race, so it made sense—it just sometimes felt messy (are we talking about you and your feelings or are we talking about a national state of affairs?).
I did not love her ending, because it felt like a journalist rather than a policy analyst or even an activist. She ends her huge book and basically asks what you’re going to do about it. There were no suggestions or ideas for X next steps you can take to address all the terrible things in the book. My fear is that a lot of readers will be struck by the book but have NO idea of what to do about it. So that felt like a big old opportunity lost.
Lastly, I don’t think the description of the book on here is great. She really didn’t quantify her white bonus (that would be a cost benefit analysis, and she didn’t get into anything that comprehensive). She is pointing out times and specific ways her “white bonus” kicked in, but she really hasn’t quantified it across her life like this description says.
July 28, 2024
If any book could convince white middle and upper class people that white privilege in America is real and has benefited them, it’s this book. If you can get them to read it.
The topics covered here, from housing segregation to education to health care access and more, are covered in other books in different ways. The research here isn’t groundbreaking, and those who are very familiar with this subject will not learn anything new here.
However, the power of this book is in the memoir, of the author’s family over multiple generations and similar families at different points. Showing the benefits of whiteness pile up and accumulate, like an avalanche picking up speed or a huge mountain getting bigger and bigger with every chapter, in a way that is too personal and relatable to deny, is the strength of this text. I cannot think of a single middle or upper class white person, including my own family, who could deny the reality laid bare here. Highly recommend.
Content warnings for the author’s personal experiences of domestic and child abuse, parentification and death of a parent, financial and emotional abuse, and rape and sexual assault in addition to the topics of systemic racism, poverty, and violence more generally.
The topics covered here, from housing segregation to education to health care access and more, are covered in other books in different ways. The research here isn’t groundbreaking, and those who are very familiar with this subject will not learn anything new here.
However, the power of this book is in the memoir, of the author’s family over multiple generations and similar families at different points. Showing the benefits of whiteness pile up and accumulate, like an avalanche picking up speed or a huge mountain getting bigger and bigger with every chapter, in a way that is too personal and relatable to deny, is the strength of this text. I cannot think of a single middle or upper class white person, including my own family, who could deny the reality laid bare here. Highly recommend.
Content warnings for the author’s personal experiences of domestic and child abuse, parentification and death of a parent, financial and emotional abuse, and rape and sexual assault in addition to the topics of systemic racism, poverty, and violence more generally.
July 9, 2024
Every once in a while I "double read" - which to me is listening to a recorded book while following along in an actual book. It's the best of both worlds if I am intent on absorbing content I can use for self-reflection and horizon broadening.
There are plenty of reviews about how this book is structured - the author does a good job comparing "The White Bonus" to the struggles of the "Not White Obstacles.
What I would say to white readers is to consider using the white author's life experience to examine our own (I am white) bonuses. Did your parents benefit from the GI Bill? Did they get an unprecedented low interest 30-year-loan on a mortage? Did they use their connections as white people - family/friends/colleagues/teachers/mentors to access milestones unavailable to others? You may need to do some digging. I did. I benefited from The White Bonus in multiple ways, so anything I worked for was boosted (or supercharged) from unearned privilege.
It's really hard to grasp this idea as a white person, but McMillan forges a brave trail and bares all - even the family estrangement that resulted from her awakening. Stunning - a seminal book that enlarged my thinking.
There are plenty of reviews about how this book is structured - the author does a good job comparing "The White Bonus" to the struggles of the "Not White Obstacles.
What I would say to white readers is to consider using the white author's life experience to examine our own (I am white) bonuses. Did your parents benefit from the GI Bill? Did they get an unprecedented low interest 30-year-loan on a mortage? Did they use their connections as white people - family/friends/colleagues/teachers/mentors to access milestones unavailable to others? You may need to do some digging. I did. I benefited from The White Bonus in multiple ways, so anything I worked for was boosted (or supercharged) from unearned privilege.
It's really hard to grasp this idea as a white person, but McMillan forges a brave trail and bares all - even the family estrangement that resulted from her awakening. Stunning - a seminal book that enlarged my thinking.
July 9, 2024
Part journalism, part personal, painful memoir, McMillan explores how U.S. policies that favored white individuals moved her family out of generational poverty into the middle class. Following the lives of her grandparents, her parents, and her own story, the author details the steps that allowed the family to build generational wealth. Her story is contrasted with 5 other individuals (ages 28 to 61) who have also benefited (and sometimes been harmed) by following the same path. McMillan takes the book a step further by calculating the dollar amounts that each individual has received in their lifetime from their privilege. Although McMillan claims she's not a scholar, at least a third of the book contains extensive notes and a bibliography. This book would be a good companion read for Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson and Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond.
June 6, 2024
McMillan, a journalist, has put together a look into the less-covered aspect of racism: How it benefits white folk instead instead of harming people of color. I found this opposite take to prompt some new avenues of critical thinking and looking at my own privileges I received not only directly, but through many long-institutionalized policies of America that started well before I was alive. I think it's a great idea for any person intersted in expanding their understanding and compassion to read this book. Going to be reccomending this one for a while.
Loved how this book was written very straightforward, no-holds-barred from direct interviews of multiple families and people. The lack of certain impassioned remarks made it very clear to see the fact - and be unable to brush things off as opinion.
Loved how this book was written very straightforward, no-holds-barred from direct interviews of multiple families and people. The lack of certain impassioned remarks made it very clear to see the fact - and be unable to brush things off as opinion.
October 14, 2024
4 stars
School summer reading list
Full respect for the quality of reporting and diligence in attempting to calculate the family vs social bonus predicated on race.
Conflicted and disappointed to learn the author knows full well about the advantage and goes ahead and builds own equity on Detroit’s mismanaged and racist real estate practices. I understand the need for other profiles to balance out the narrative, but the most moving and clear cut example of the white bonus was the author’s own family.
At my age, I felt like I’d lived through some of the moments in history that were explained here, so maybe it is better for a younger demographic that needs more context to understand how we came to be where we are now.
School summer reading list
Full respect for the quality of reporting and diligence in attempting to calculate the family vs social bonus predicated on race.
Conflicted and disappointed to learn the author knows full well about the advantage and goes ahead and builds own equity on Detroit’s mismanaged and racist real estate practices. I understand the need for other profiles to balance out the narrative, but the most moving and clear cut example of the white bonus was the author’s own family.
At my age, I felt like I’d lived through some of the moments in history that were explained here, so maybe it is better for a younger demographic that needs more context to understand how we came to be where we are now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2024
This COULD have been a great book. As it is it is another exhausting racist take on racism; the kind white readers love to read.
There is a wealth of truly interesting data to prove the case for systemic racism in this country: if only Ms. McMillan had not centered herself so squarely in the middle of it.
Also; the irony of her buying a low cost house in Detroit after the area being gutted by white plunder and flight and her acknowledging that are a bit much. The ending was the cheapest rim shot ever performed without benefit of a burlesque stage: read it from a library and invest in something else.
There is a wealth of truly interesting data to prove the case for systemic racism in this country: if only Ms. McMillan had not centered herself so squarely in the middle of it.
Also; the irony of her buying a low cost house in Detroit after the area being gutted by white plunder and flight and her acknowledging that are a bit much. The ending was the cheapest rim shot ever performed without benefit of a burlesque stage: read it from a library and invest in something else.
January 7, 2025
For context, this book was lingering at my local library's shelves. I immediately wanted to read it, but I feel like it left me not necessarily unsatisfied, but more or so, confused. I think Tracie McMilian does a good job at offering a memoir-like atmosphere for writing her book, 90% focusing on her family and her struggles with finances, but I feel like what she intended to write about (which is really about how racism affects African American families) still remains unanswered. Perhaps, this book feels as if it resonates to the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover." I still enjoyed her references to her early years of independence, though. Very important.
May 13, 2025
While I found the tracing of advantages through family lineage interesting, and the introspection very good, I found the relation of the topic to race to be thin. There is an inherent level of advantage to being white in the US, but these memoirs and stories point to the fact that even that inherent advantage breaks down at a certain socio-economic level. Poor people are poor, and it doesn't matter what color they happen to be. The system has been stacked against people of color to make sure they stay on the poor side of the economic scale, but anyone on that side of the scale is disadvantaged more than everyone else.
September 23, 2025
Fascinating book. The author takes her own personal story, along the personal stories of a few other families, and tries to put an actual dollar amount on the notion of white privilege. As she points out a number of times, the author is a journalist and not a researcher, but the way she blends a narrative, journalistic style with a fair bit of research makes for a book that is easy to read but is supported with enough data to make her arguments land. Overall, this book not only gives lie to the notion that white privilege doesn’t exist, but establishes exactly how our current society was created to ensure the continued political and economic dominance of white people.
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