From the creator of “nothing less than a unified field theory of racism” (NPR Planet Money), a dollar-and-cents reckoning of the state of Black America and a new framework to close the power gap

Historically, the quest for power by Black Americans has been cast as gaining equal protections under the law in pursuit of basic democratic freedoms. But American power is inextricably associated with ownership—of one’s self, home, business, and creations. We are living at a time of a Black cultural renaissance, but the true measure of a genuine shift in influence is whether the people who make the films, cook the food, write the stories, and sing the songs own their work and reap the commercial value of their production.

Economist Andre M. Perry draws on extensive research and analysis to quantify how much power Black Americans actually have. Ranging from property, business, and wealth, to education, health, social mobility, and political strength, he moves across the country, from Maryland to New York, Mississippi, Illinois, and beyond, evaluating people’s ability to set the rules of the game, measured by a host of metrics. Evaluating the power gap and where it is most pronounced, he advances the case for reparations as an investment and a corrective.

An expansive take on power, supported by documentation and data, Black Power Scorecard is a groundbreaking contribution to the country’s reckoning with structural inequality, one that offers a new approach to redressing it.