What Do You Think About the American Dream?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

When people talk about the American dream, what do you think that they are imagining when they say a phrase like that? I think it depends who's saying it, the people who still really believe in the American dream are immigrants. That's why we continue to leave our families, our land, our food, our heritage, our culture behind and come to this country that often doesn't welcome us. For my parents, for them, the American dream was really about financial success and financial stability. It still means sort of like the house with the white picket fence and the family.

When do you feel like you've reached "success"? Julissa Arce is an acclaimed social justice advocate, the author of four books, a former vice president at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, and was named a 2019 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. But if you ask her, she’s still redefining what success looks like, and if it matters. Julissa immigrated to the United States at 11, and was undocumented for almost 15 years. In her latest book, and in today’s episode, she rejects the idea that assimilation can create belonging and brings success – and asks what we can do instead to reconnect and celebrate all that makes us unique. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts