You Sound Like a White Girl

Arce unapologetically challenges the age-old notion that America is stronger when it's newest immigrants relinquish their culture, language and identity by merging to whiteness. This book spares no one and nothing in uncovering the cultural and societal forces that convince many young people longing for acceptance in America that their skin is too dark to be beautiful, their English too accented and their customs too ethnic to be truly American. Ultimately, You Sound Like A White Girl is a powerful call for and celebration of self-acceptance. -- Joaquin Castro A love letter to our people--full of fury and passion. You Sound Like a White Girl tells us about who we are, where we came from, and most importantly, helps us imagine a future where we can live in all our beauty and power. -- Jose Olivarez, award-winning poet and author of Citizen Illegal I have been waiting for this book all my life. Julissa Arce brilliantly dismantles the idea that we must reject our languages, our histories, and the teachings of our elders to fit into a flawed society. Arce asks us to draw on our ancestors' wisdom as well as our own experiences to rebuild this society on the foundations of self-respect, mutuality, and care for others. She convincingly demonstrates that a nation humbled by the global pandemic can be reinvigorated by the courage and compassion of immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. -- Paul Ortiz, award-winning author of An African American and Latinx History of the United States