French or Spanish - those are the 2 most common languages offered to children in school. Remember taking all those placement exams, where your score determined which level you’d be put in? I always wished I was fluent in Spanish so I could be exempt from taking any language class at all. But for Alicia, today’s episode guest, that wasn’t the case. She is part of the Latin X community, but doesn’t know any Spanish because she was adopted by non-Spanish speakers. When Alicia expressed a desire to learn Spanish in school, she was told she couldn’t join the class because it would simply be another “easy A”. In other words, Alicia wasn’t allowed to learn Spanish because her school assumed she was already fluent solely based on what she looked like.
Have no doubt - this is racism, and on today’s episode, Alicia and I discuss how experiencing racism like that, at such a young age, can follow you well into adulthood. Alicia shares how being denied access to the culture of her birthplace not only made her feel like she didn’t belong, but how it also brought prejudice from other people, both white and Latin X, upon her. Don’t miss out, as I’m Adopted, Now What? welcomes its first (of hopefully many) Latin X guests - listen now.