The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It

A groundbreaking exposé of racism in the American taxation system from a law professor and expert on tax policyNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND FORTUNE • “Important reading for those who want to understand how inequality is built into the bedrock of American society, and what a more equitable future might look like.”—Ibram X.

Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an AntiracistDorothy A.

Brown became a tax lawyer to get away from race.

As a young black girl growing up in the South Bronx, she’ld seen how racism limited the lives of her family and neighbors.

Her law school classes offered a refreshing contrast: Tax law was about numbers, and the only color that mattered was green.

But when Brown sat down to prepare tax returns for her parents, she found something strange: James and Dottie Brown, a plumber and a nurse, seemed to be paying an unusually high percentage of their income in taxes.