Rich White Men
What It Takes to Uproot the Old Boys' Club and Transform America
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Robin DiAngelo, this provocative book investigates major corporate boardrooms and presents a data-driven analysis of how rich white men have preserved their monopoly on power—and what we can do to stop them.
It’s no secret that our country has a serious problem when it comes to wealth inequality – and systemic racism and patriarchy have only exacerbated the advantages of wealthy white men. Over the past three decades, America’s richest white men have only become richer, while those suffering in poverty have only gotten poorer. The divide may seem too great to bridge, but Rich White Men exposes the hidden and insidious ways that white male elites inherit, increase, and preserve their status—and, in this book, we get clear on how to uproot their monopoly on power.
Serial nonprofit entrepreneur Garrett Neiman’s day job is to get rich white men to donate money to good causes and organizations. In Rich White Men, Neiman brings us into corner offices of billionaires and the boardrooms of Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Stanford, Harvard, and other enclaves of silver-spooned white men to illuminate the role of rich white men in the world and how they justify inequality. He uses the analogy of compound interest to illustrate how the advantages wealthy white men inherit give them a leg up at key moments in their lives, gilding their trajectories and shutting others out. Through this rare, insider access, readers will discover new ways to persuade the elite toward progressive solutions. A hopeful polemic, the book sheds light on dark truths about inequality and the people invested in preserving it while also providing a blueprint for how America can become an equitable democracy.
Rich White Men reveals that to realize America’s founding aspiration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we must recognize, dismantle, and transform our current system into one that liberates us all – including this nation’s morally and spiritually impoverished wealthy white men.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neiman, a senior fellow at Prosperity Now, debuts with a well-intentioned yet uneven look at the "compounding unearned advantages" that have allowed white men to accumulate most of the wealth and power in America, and what it would take to produce a more equitable society. Noting that social justice nonprofits and charitable organizations are heavily dependent on the generosity of rich white men like himself, Neiman contends that most philanthropists hold beliefs, including the idea that they "earned everything they have," that work against a just and equitable society. Nevertheless, he believes that many of his cohort can be convinced to abandon their prejudices and work to overcome injustice. He encourages these men to recognize their privilege, support governmental—not just nonprofit—antipoverty programs, embrace "stereotypically feminine leadership qualities," including humility and empathy, and work to bring about a culture of repair. The goal should be "to partner deeply across differences and ruffle feathers where we have influence," he writes. Though much of Neiman's argument is convincing, its scope is limited (his sources are mostly leadership books and people he knows), and his earnest self-criticism occasionally bleeds into virtue signaling. This call for change lacks force.
Customer Reviews
Worthwhile read.
Well written and well researched. Makes a strong case for more philanthropy to make our society more equal.