A groundbreaking exposé of racism in the American taxation system from a law professor and expert on tax policy

“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 Antiracist

Dorothy A. Brown became a tax lawyer to get away from race. As a young black girl growing up in the South Bronx, she’d 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.

Dorothy’s Interview with Amanpour and Company

Dorothy A. Brown is a law professor and nationally recognized scholar in tax policy. She chose her field because she believed it was free from racism. She soon discovered how wrong she was. Her new book, “The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans and How We Can Fix It,” draws on decades of research and personal histories, as she explains to Michel Martin.

2021.04.8: “The System Is Designed For White Wealth”

Dorothy’s Interview with Bloomberg

Dorothy A. Brown, Asa Griggs Candler Professor, Emory University Law School joins Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman at the Bloomberg Equality Summit to discuss her Bloomberg Businessweek cover story on institutional racism in the U.S. tax code. (Source: Bloomberg)

2021.03.18: Bloomberg, Is the Tax Code Racist?

Book Reviews

“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 Antiracist

“This enlightening book is a vital companion to The New Jim Crow, The Color of Wealth, and Evicted, for how it reimagines everything you thought you knew about U.S. social policy.”—Tressie McMillan Cottom, MacArthur Fellow and author of Thick: And Other Essays

“This book is a tour de force. With clarity and conviction, Dorothy Brown reveals how U.S. tax policy sustains and deepens the wealth gap between black and white Americans. As I read The Whiteness of Wealth, I found myself shaking my head as I eagerly turned the pages and shouting ‘damn’ with each revelation. If we are finally to address the long history of racism in this country, we must grapple with the arguments of Brown’s powerful book. This is a MUST read for these troubling times.”—Eddie S. Glaude Jr., New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again and Democracy in Black

“I couldn’t put it down! Dorothy Brown skillfully weaves her analysis of the racial bias in tax law with compelling personal stories of both Black and White taxpayers as well as policy recommendations for how to bring equity to our tax system.”—Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

“At once passionate and analytical, The Whiteness of Wealth is a bracing contribution to the history of policy racism that takes us to the heart of taxation’s effects on patterns of economic distribution.”—Ira Katznelson, author of When Affirmative Action Was White