Julissa Arce Rejects Assimilation in 'You Sound Like a White Girl'

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When a classmate in junior high school told Julissa Arce, an immigrant from Mexico, that she sounded like a white girl, she took it as a compliment. “Sounding like a white girl gave me a false sense of security. Having an accent said I was from someplace else; sounding like a white girl fooled me into thinking I could belong in the United States,” she writes in her new book, “You Sound Like A White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation.” Writer, speaker, and immigration rights advocate, Arce became well known after publishing her first book, “My (Underground) American Dream,” about her experience working for Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs even though she was undocumented. In her latest release, she eviscerates the idea that through assimilation, anyone can be successful and accepted in America. In reality, she argues, assimilation functions as a tool of white supremacy. We talk with Arce about what it means to reject assimilation and how Latinos and other people of color are reclaiming their identities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:50.1	Music From KQED. From KQED, From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:56.1	Writers, speaker, and immigration rights advocate, Julisa Adisiv, became well known after publishing a memoir about her experience working for Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, even though she was undocumented.
1:02.0	Now she's back with a new book about how Latinos should reject assimilation and reclaim our histories and identities.
1:08.6	Some people say that I am ungrateful because this country has given me so much,
1:12.6	and that I should simply ride into the sunset with the bounty it has bestowed upon me, she writes.
1:17.6	The truth is, I do have a lot, but I finally know how much it has cost me.
1:21.6	We're talking assimilation, healing, and the future of the country after this news.
1:42.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. So excited. We're joined this morning by Julisa Arce.
1:47.3	She's got a new book out. You talk like a White Girl, The Case for Rejecting, Assimulation.
1:49.7	It follows her best-selling previous books,
	...

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