--- description: Find out why Just Us by Claudia Rankine is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Just Us' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcad1414b8312adcb/698a140501168203dd980058/best-books-2020-Just-Us.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 10, 2020 # Just Us by Claudia Rankine by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  When reading [_Just Us: An American Conversation_](https://time.com/5887426/claudia-rankine-just-us-racism/ "undefined"), it’s hard to tell that the author and poet [Claudia Rankine](https://time.com/5797979/claudia-rankine-help-play/ "undefined") finished writing it before the protests against racial injustice broke out across the world after the killing of [George Floyd](https://time.com/5847967/george-floyd-protests-trump/ "undefined"). Her lacerating condemnation of anti-Black racism across American society**—**from preschools to college campuses to police precincts**—**makes it one of the most vital texts on race to arrive this year. The book includes uncomfortable vignettes from dinner parties, racist writings from Thomas Jefferson and data elucidating the wealth gap between Black and white families. Rankine also puts herself at the center of many of these stories, forcing readers and those around her to recognize her humanity, as well as her pinpoint insight and wit. **Buy Now:** _Just Us_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781644450215 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1644450216/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1644450216&linkId=2caff1c057dfe875927f6fbb07b18eeb "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904383/just-us/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904383/just-us/"},"headline":"'Just Us' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-10T23:14:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:45:12.450Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904383/just-us/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcad1414b8312adcb/698a140501168203dd980058/best-books-2020-Just-Us.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcad1414b8312adcb/698a140501168203dd980058/best-books-2020-Just-Us.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904383/just-us/","name":"'Just Us' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```