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The BookBrowse Review
The BookBrowse Review
Published December 4, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
The BookBrowse Review
Published December 4, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
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Literary Fiction
Historical Fiction
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Biography/Memoir
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A scholar and activist's brilliant socio-political examination of Asian Americans who refuse to assimilate and instead build their own belonging on their own terms outside of mainstream American institutions, transforming the ways we understand race, class, and citizenship in America.
In this hard-hitting and deeply personal book, a combination of manifesto and memoir, scholar, sociologist, and activist Bianca Mabute-Louie transforms the ways we understand race, class, American respectability, and the concept of assimilation and its impact on Asian American communities from the nineteenth century to present day.
Unassimilable opens with a focus on the San Gabriel Valley (SGV), the first Asian ethnoburb in Los Angeles County and in the nation, where she grew up. A suburban neighborhood with a conspicuous Asian immigrant population, SGV thrives not because of its assimilation into Whiteness, but because of its unapologetic catering to its immigrant community.
Mabute-Louie then examines "Predominantly White Institutions With A lot of Asians" and how these institutions shape the racial politics of Asian Americans and Asian internationals, including the fight against affirmative action and the fight for ethnic studies. She moves on to interrogate the role of the religion, showing how the immigrant church is a sanctuary even as it is an extension of colonialism and the American Empire. In the book's conclusion, Bianca looks to the future, boldly proposing a reconsideration of the term Asian American for a new label that better clarifies who Asians in America are today.
Unassimilable offers a radical vision of Asian American political identity informed by a refusal of Whiteness and collective care for each other. It is a forthright declaration against assimilation and in service of cross-racial, anti-imperialist solidarity and revolutionary politics. Scholarly yet accessible, informative and informed, this book is a major addition to Ethnic Studies and American Studies.
"Unassimilable tells the story of its author's ever-evolving understanding of her Asian American identity and the frameworks that have shaped how she exists in America....accessibly written and driven by the author's personal journey." —Booklist
"With searing ethos and rigorous logos, Bianca Mabute-Louie's Unassimilable upends our notions of what it means to be an immigrant, a citizen, and a comrade; and charts a provocatively compelling path forward for Asians in America." —Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author of Dear America
"Unassimilable is a rallying cry for the Asian diaspora. The book has reframed my thinking on activism, identity, and intersectionality, and it left me inspired to organize and protest in new directions. Mabute-Louie is a one-of-a-kind visionary who will lead us to a bold new frontier for Asian America." —Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country
"Every so often, you come across a book that you just know would have changed the trajectory of your life, if only you had it years before. For me, Unassimilable is that book. Bianca Mabute-Louie offers a compass for Asian Americans and anyone committed to reckoning with the sins of our country's past—all in the hope of reimagining a better future." —Anthony Christian Ocampo, author of Brown and Gay in LA
Bianca Mabute-Louie is an award-winning sociologist, speaker, and activist completing her PhD at Rice University, where she researches the intersections of race, religion, and politics. She is published in top academic journals, including Social Forces and Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, as well as in public outlets like Elle Magazine. Bianca has been featured in CNN, TIME, ABC, LA Times, among other outlets. Over the last decade, Bianca has served Asian American community organizations and taught Asian American Studies. Through her work in academia and the community, Bianca is committed to the praxis of solidarity and collective liberation.
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