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Danielle Jimenez
Professor Olivas
5 October 16
Racism Now and Then
In the short story American History by Judith Ortiz Cofer we see the struggles
of racism and discrimination taking place in fourteen year old Elenas life. She is a Puerto
Rican immigrant living with her family in an old apartment building on a busy corner in
the city, most of the immigrants lived here. During this time John F. Kennedy was the
current president who was trying to enforce equality and put an end to racism however it
was still a growing problem during this time. It is believed that racism has improved
since this time and has continued to die down. Many people are accepting of the diversity
our world has and choose to accept it rather than be biased against people of different
nationality and ethnicity. However some people will say that racism has not improved
and in fact they believe it has stayed the same since the time President Kennedy was in
office. All around we see our world is adapting to different views and being less racist.
The main character in this short story Elena feels constantly humiliated at school,
where her peers call her "Skinny Bones" and taunt her for her race and look of her
appearance. They also make fun of her for her supposed Puerto Rican diet. Didnt you
eat your rice and beans and pork chops for breakfast today? (Cofer). The girls teased her
about the food she eats and eating pork chops for breakfast. They began to refer to the
Puerto Rican girl as pork chop. She faces racial comments just because she is Puerto
Rican and lives in El Building. Although few people may say hurtful racial comments in

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the past few decades racial comments at school have occurred less since the time of this
short story. Others believe racial slurs and comments may have increased and are
frequently used in schools but there are many rules schools have that prohibit the use of
racial comments and many school enforce these rules teaching children racial comments
are inappropriate and unacceptable.
The story takes place during the time when President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated. Despite this tragic event, Elena is focused on Eugene, her new neighbor.
There was only one source of beauty and light for me that year. The only thing I had
anticipated at the start of the semester. That was seeing Eugene (Cofer). Elena was able
to see Eugenes house from her window in El Building, she would sit outside on her fire
escape and would just enjoy reading her books while being able to see his house. There
was Eugene. He was tall and blonde, and he wore glasses. I liked him right away because
he sat at the kitchen table and read books for hours (Cofer). Elena took interest in this
blonde hair boy immediately because he too enjoyed reading books. When school started
she was looking around for him for days. She finally worked up the courage to talk to
him. Elena and Eugene do not share any classes because Eugene is taking all honors
classes. Although Elena gets straight A's, she is not allowed to enroll in these advanced
classes because English is not her first language. We see how discrimination is taking
place at school limiting immigrants from taking certain classes even though they may be
smart enough to take these classes. Nowadays students are judged merely on there
intelligence level and not on their race and immigration status. Some may say that

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immigrant students dont get the same treatment as American students but our schools in
America are welcoming towards immigrants and strive to offer the most help.
Once Elena and Eugene met they started hanging more during the following
weeks they would walk home together. But after meeting Eugene I began to think of the
present more than the future. What I wanted now was to enter that house I had watched
for so many years. I wanted to see where the boy I liked spent this time (Cofer). Elena is
beginning to be more infatuated by Eugene and interested in his living arrangement. She
wants Eugene to invite her over so she can finally see what she has been observing from
a distance. On the day Eugene decided to finally ask Elena to come over to study with
him and later go to the library, news broke out that President Kennedy was shot and
killed. Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedys death, I could
not fight the feeling of elation that stirred in my chest. Today was the day I was to visit
Eugene in his house. Although the president was killed Elena was so excited to go to
Eugenes house because she has been waiting and wondering when she would finally get
to go inside and see all the things she has waited so long for. You are going out today?
Hija, the president has been killed we must show respect he was a great man (Cofer).
President Kennedy was a very important man in this decade. He pledged to fight racial
discrimination in the U.S raise standards in living and wipe out communism in Latin
American countries. President Kennedy was a well-respected man who had good
intentions to improve racial problems, he was well liked by people across America. So
when there was news of his death there was a shatter and wave of pain that hit the people
who agreed with his tactics and opinions. When Elena visits Eugene that evening, she

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experiences her own personal tragedy in the form of prejudice. When Elena arrives at
Eugenes home his mother answers the door. I dont know how you people do
It...Listen, Honey, Eugene doesnt want to study with you. He is a smart boy. Doesnt
need help (Cofer). His mother tells Elena to go home that Eugene doesnt want to study
with her. The mother was racist because she first asked Elena if she lives in El building
and when Elena said yes she categorized her by saying You people which referred
Elena as just an average Puerto Rican girl. Eugenes mother did not want her son hanging
out with Elena because of her race. Our world we live in now is full of acceptance, we
see many different races having relationships and friendships with each other. Statistics
show that interracial marriages have been increasing throughout America In 2014, 37%
of Americans said having more people of different races marrying each other was a good
thing for society (Wang). Instead of limiting who to surround yourself based on
nationality and race we see that people of all different races will get along. The opposing
thinks that there are people who separate themselves from people of different color
because there are still many racial views being held by people. Our world has continued
you change since the time on this story. People of this time zone have grown and learned
to not judge someone by their appearance and to look past the racial aspect.
While reading the short story American History there was segregation against
races and people had the biased opinion of separation. However since this time our world
has changed immensely and the race problem has improved today. Some people will
argue this and say race has not changed or has stayed the same since back then. Although
race is still in issue our world faces, its an issue that is being suppressed.

Works Cited
Wang, Wendy. "Interracial Marriage: Who Is marrying Out?" Pew Research
Center RSS. N.p., 12 June 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2016. <http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/06/12/interracial-marriage-who-is-marrying-out/>.
Cofer, By Judith Ortiz. "By Judith Ortiz Cofer." American History. N.p., n.d.
Web. 05 Oct. 2016. <http://www.westga.edu/~shollenb/Cofer's%20American
%20History.htm>.