NYC author Tracie McMillan calculates exactly how much white privilege and racism has benefited her financially

A Brooklyn-based journalist calculated exactly how much racism and white privilege has financially benefited her down to the last cent - coming in at a whopping $371,000. 

In her new book, 'The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism,' author Tracie McMillan claims that being white has created a benefit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

McMillan derived the number, in part, by tracing the amount of money she's received from her family over years, money she claims her family was able to save up over generations because of their whiteness.

Figuring largely into her final sum were educational loans that she received from her grandfather, totaling at $52,784.33. 

McMillan, a graduate of NYU, where she studied political science, contends that her grandfather was able to give her this money because he had been able to accumulate wealth over years thanks to his whiteness.

In her new book, 'The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism,' author Tracie McMillan claims that being white has created a benefit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars

She argues that her grandfather's wealth was rooted in benefits accrued from the GI Bill, a post-World War II piece of legislation that helped military veterans attend school and receive job training.

The Brooklyn-based writer argues that the GI Bill 'heavily favored whites,' and therefore benefited her grandfather at the expense of non-whites. 

McMillan also received $40,384.72 as an inheritance from her grandfather, which, again, she contends was money that was owed to her grandfather's whiteness.

She also received $15,086.74 from her parents, which she referred to vaguely as a gift. McMillan, in a graphic posted on her website, fails to elaborate on why this 'gift from parents' was attributable to their whiteness. 

The writer also cites 'avoiding foster care' as a consequence of her whiteness, which is an assertion that almost suggests that all non-whites are automatically in foster care.

She puts the value of avoiding foster care at $15,771.37.

But McMillan claims that the money she's received from her family is only one part of her 'white bonus.'

The NYU-graduate contends that her rent-stabilized apartment, has saved her $1,319.86 in costs due to discrimination that she never faced given the fact she is white. 

Another white privilege was her 'job as a tutor with Maggie,' from which she claims she received $26,858.04 more than non-white tutors.

And McMillan also asserts that she's been spared $37,488.11 in credit discrimination when accessing credit.

Explaining her calculus to CNN, the Brooklyn Journalist said: 'I calculate $146,000 from my family that probably they had because of racism.'

Asked why she had written the book, McMillan said: 'I hope that readers who aren’t White feel seen, too — that somebody out there who’s White does see how this is happening'

When McMillan announced her tour for her new book on X.com, formerly Twitter, some commenters criticized the book's premise. One user wrote: 'Maybe we should re-label white privilege to “white, upper middle class” privilege. Since a lot of us that grew up poor didn’t have the “bonuses” you enjoyed'

'I calculate $225,000 of money that I have had access to or equity I've gained probably because I was white. That's almost $400,000.'

Asked why she had written the book, McMillan said: 'I hope that readers who aren’t White feel seen, too — that somebody out there who’s White does see how this is happening.'

McMillan insists that her nearly $400,000 estimate only scratches the surface.

'All these are back of the envelope estimates. They are bare minimums.'

'The White Bonus,' McMillan's new book, focuses on how white privilege benefits the middle class because 'the middle class is really the fulcrum for White advantage in the US.'

In her book, McMillan lays out her argument that all white families in America have benefited because of their race,

'White people today do not understand — because this history has been hidden from them by previous generations — that somebody in their family got something because they were White.'

When McMillan announced her tour for her new book on X.com, formerly Twitter, some commenters criticized the book's premise.

One user wrote: 'Maybe we should re-label white privilege to “white, upper middle class” privilege. Since a lot of us that grew up poor didn’t have the “bonuses” you enjoyed.'

Another commenter asked: 'Will you be donating all the profits from this book to black causes?' 

And one critic observed: 'Money from inheritance, parents paying for college and loan from grandparents isn't a white bonus. It's a upper-class bonus.' 

They continued: 'Go interview lower-class and middle-class white people and ask about their college, inheritance and loans from grandparents.'