Rich white men What it takes to uproot the Old Boys' Club and transform America

Review by Choice Review

In this persuasive, inspiring account, Neiman (independent scholar) delves into the cascading suite of economic disparities based around race, class, and gender, and offers solutions for how wealthy white men--those who hold the greatest privileges in America--can recognize these patterns and dismantle them to create a more equitable world. He coins the term "compounding unearned advantage" to illustrate how members of this elite group reap benefits from their "identity markers" throughout their lives, from educational opportunities to professional networks and advantageous tax structures, and challenges the idea that their success can be solely ascribed to hard work or good luck. The conversational, first-person narrative is full of candid anecdotes from the author's interviews with business and philanthropic leaders, many unaware of their own biases, and from his own background as a well-off white man. Numerous concepts in the text will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to social justice movements, and Neiman's critical analysis is well organized and grounded in relevant research. The book concludes with ten suggested actions and a resource list. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers. --Sarah L. Johnson, Eastern Illinois University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Over the past 30 years, the divide between rich and poor has deepened. Nonprofit entrepreneur Neiman tackles the issue of wealth inequality and exposes the deceptions that elite white men use to inherit, grow, and maintain their power--and how to uproot them. The book is divided into two sections, "Old Boy's Club" and "Becoming More Equitable." The first part discusses history, talking about wealth disparity, unequal representation in Congress, especially for Asian Americans, abuse suffered by the poorest in society, and how the elite are sheltered from this. The second half of the book focuses on how to think differently about inequality in terms of race, gender, education, opportunity, and more. Both sections include stories from the many wealthy white men Neiman has solicited for funds over the years. Neiman then presents ways to disrupt the cycle, like paying federal reparations and leveraging connections to dismantle the systems of oppression. This book will appeal to those who are interested in examining racial and socioeconomic segregation and looking to understand diverse viewpoints and how to combat inequality.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

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. Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (June)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A social justice activist and self-described "rich white man" serves up ideas about breaking the class stranglehold on the American polity. "It turns out that racist thinking is common among white people," writes Neiman, who opens by noting that the U.S. is racially and socio-economically segregated in astonishingly entrenched ways. The former CEO of a nonprofit devoted to placing students of color from "high-poverty" areas in colleges, the author writes about a seemingly sympathetic executive who, while putatively a "good" billionaire, revealed his view that such students were noncompetitive for ingrained reasons of culture. Meanwhile, by Neiman's account, the executive was a prime example of the rich, White, male class that holds disproportionate political and economic power and expresses its views in unmistakably self-serving ways--e.g., by preparing to transfer $36 trillion in intergenerational wealth to their offspring, who aren't as likely to put those dollars to work solving social problems. Neiman paints with a wide brush, but interestingly, he applies notions of intersectionality not just to the oppressed, but also to the oppressors. "Compounding unearned advantage says nothing about how hard any individual works or the quality of their choices," he writes. "Rather, it simply acknowledges that those who benefit from unearned advantages receive a premium on their positive efforts and a discount on their missteps." Neiman shows how wealth can be leveraged differently to dismantle social and economic inequalities and create a more equitable society. He uses the example of Prince Harry, who walked away from "the power and prestige that was his birthright as being in his own self-interest." Harry, of course, remains rich and White all the same, but Neiman's larger point is that "each generation gets to decide for itself what it means to be good," including the prospect of giving up some of its loot. A thought-provoking book sure to cause heated debate in discussions of equity and social justice. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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