Racism has a cost for everyone | Heather C. McGhee

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2020

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Racism makes our economy worse -- and not just in ways that harm people of color, says public policy expert Heather C. McGhee. From her research and travels across the US, McGhee shares startling insights into how racism fuels bad policymaking and drains our economic potential -- and offers a crucial rethink on what we can do to create a more prosperous nation for all. "Our fates are linked," she says. "It costs us so much to remain divided."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Elise Hugh, and this is TED Talks Daily. In today's talk, Heather C. McGee, a black woman,
0:09.2	tells the story of her unlikely friendship with an admittedly prejudiced white man. It led her to a big
0:16.0	insight about how racism costs everyone, not just people of color.
0:21.7	I'll let her explain the consequential ways how and what we can do about it from the TED stage
0:26.9	in 2019.
0:30.4	I am a public policy walk.
0:33.2	I investigate data that points to problems in the American economy,
0:38.1	problems like rising household debt,
0:41.2	declining wages and benefits,
0:43.2	shortfalls in public revenue.
0:46.1	And I try to pinpoint solutions
0:48.2	to make our economy more prosperous for more people.
0:52.6	I geek out about tax policy and infrastructure investments,
0:57.4	and I get really excited by a gracefully designed regulatory regime.
1:04.4	These are the kinds of topics that I was talking about
1:07.6	on a public television live call-in show in August of 2016.
1:13.9	I was about halfway through the program when a man called in
1:17.3	identified as Gary from North Carolina,
1:20.6	and he said,
1:22.6	I'm a white male, and I'm prejudiced.
1:29.0	He then went on to detail his prejudice,
1:32.6	talking about black men and gangs and drugs and crime.
	...

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