Dorothy Brown’s recently released book, The Whiteness of Wealth, is a groundbreaking exposé of racism in the American tax system from a law professor and expert on tax policy.
Join us for “Dorothy Brown’s The Whiteness of Wealth and How Washington’s Tax System Impoverishes Communities of Color,” a candid conversation between Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation, and Dorothy Brown, about how tax policy in Washington state systematically leaves Black Americans with less after-tax income, causing the ever-increasing racial wealth gap.
Accessibility: this event will include ASL interpretation and captioning.
In The Whiteness of Wealth, Brown draws on decades of cross-disciplinary research to show that tax law isn’t as color-blind as she’d once believed. She takes us into her adopted city of Atlanta, introducing us to families across the economic spectrum whose stories demonstrate how American tax law rewards the preferences and practices of white people while pushing Black people further behind. From attending college to getting married to buying a home, Black Americans find themselves at a financial disadvantage compared to their white peers. The results are an ever-increasing wealth gap and more Black families shut out of the American dream.
Dorothy A. Brown is an Asa Griggs Candler Professor at Emory University School of Law. A graduate of Fordham University and Georgetown Law, she received her LLM in Taxation from New York University. A nationally recognized scholar in the areas of race, class, and tax policy, she has published dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters on the topic. She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and NPR, and her opinion pieces have been published in CNN Opinion, Forbes, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Born and raised in the South Bronx in New York City, Dorothy Brown currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Carmen Rojas is the President and CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation, and co-founder and former CEO of The Workers Lab. For more than 20 years, she has worked with foundations, financial institutions, and nonprofits to improve the lives of working people across the United States. Dr. Rojas holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2007.