SouthTalks: “The Cash Value of Racism in America—and Its Schools”

“The Cash Value of Racism in America—and Its Schools” presented by Tracie McMillan

After journalist Tracie McMillan began reporting on the material advantages of racial privilege in America, she ended up in the public schools of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Using the story of two millennial sisters—the Becker girls—as a starting point, McMillan pieces together a seventy-year history of the school district. In this talk, McMillan will use the Becker girls’ story to explore how racism has shaped our public institutions—and ultimately weakens them for everybody.

Tracie McMillan has covered America’s multiracial working class as a journalist with publications ranging from the New York Times to Mother Jones, from National Geographic to the Village Voice. She is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The American Way of Eating and The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America. A one-time target of Rush Limbaugh, McMillan currently oversees coverage of worker organizing for the online publication Capital & Main. A graduate of New York University, McMillan grew up on a dirt road outside Flint, Michigan. She splits her time between Brooklyn, New York, and Detroit.

SouthTalks is a series of events, including lectures, performances, film screenings and panel discussions, that explores the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies. This series is free and open to the public.