Bestselling author Julissa Arce calls for a celebration of our
uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the
differences that make us Americans in this powerful polemic against
the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for
immigrants.
“You sound like a white girl.” These were the words spoken to
Julissa by a high school crush as she struggled to find her place in
America. As a brown immigrant from Mexico, assimilation had been
demanded of her since the moment she set foot in San Antonio, Texas,
in 1994. She’d spent so much time getting rid of her accent so no
one could tell English was her second language that in that moment
she felt those words—you sound like a white girl?—were a
compliment. As a child, she didn’t yet understand that assimilating
to “American” culture really meant imitating “white”
America—that sounding like a white girl was a racist idea meant to
tame her, change her, and make her small. She ran the race,
completing each stage, but never quite fit in, until she stopped
running altogether.
In this dual polemic and manifesto, Julissa dives into and tears
apart the lie that assimilation leads to belonging. She combs through
history and her own story to break down this myth, arguing that
assimilation is a moving finish line designed to keep Black and brown
Americans and immigrants chasing racist American ideals. She talks
about the Lie of Success, the Lie of Legality, the Lie of Whiteness,
and the Lie of English—each promising that if you obtain these
things, you will reach acceptance and won’t be an outsider anymore.
Julissa deftly argues that these demands leave her and those like her
in a purgatory—neither able to secure the power and belonging
within whiteness nor find it in the community and cultures whiteness
demands immigrants and people of color leave behind.
In You Sound Like a White Girl, Julissa offers a bold new
promise: Belonging only comes through celebrating yourself, your
history, your culture, and everything that makes you uniquely you.
Only in turning away from the white gaze can we truly make America
beautiful. An America where difference is celebrated, heritage is
shared and embraced, and belonging is for everyone. Through
unearthing veiled history and reclaiming her own identity, Julissa
shows us how to do this.