Throughout American history, society has grown from many different aspects of cultures coming together as one. Many of our families leave their homeland to come to America for greater opportunities where we are often told to embrace our cultures to a certain extent. As we grow up we adapt to American culture without realizing that we are even allowing ourselves to hide our cultural beliefs and upbringing. The two main characters in Aurora Levins Morales' “Puertoricanness” and Pat Mora's “Elena” both demonstrate an interest in the meaning of race in contemporary American society. In both readings, it is implied that many of those who believe that if we assimilated into American culture would open up more. A Mexican woman is having a hard time trying to adapt her old life to American culture. The first line states, “My Spanish is not enough” (1). She accepts the fact that her Spanish is no longer enough for her. He begins to remember his previous life in Mexico with his children. “Now my children attend American high schools, they speak English” (8). The protagonist left Mexico to allow her family to have a better life, but away from the rest of her family she risked more opportunities for her family to “feel stupid and alone” (11). As her children continued to attend American schools, their English also improved, which made their mother feel like an outcast because of her embarrassment at mispronouncing words” (16). Although she was embarrassed by her limited English, she would take her English book and lock herself in the bathroom “because if I stop trying, I will be deaf when my children need my help” (22). However, she had a lack of motivation from her husband, she did it to feel more connected to her family and wanted to be able to bond with her children without difficulty. Mom slowly tried to adapt to American culture for her children, but still accepted her previous life in the. He came to the United States in 1967. During this time many people of different cultures came to America for similar reasons such as money, education, more opportunities. , etc. Within this literary criticism it states: “His Jewish-Puerto Rican heritage was also an important source of creativity. Her search for a language that expresses the experience and struggle of a Latina woman identifies her with the literary corpus produced by American women of color and connects her closely with the work of contemporary Chicano writers” (Aparicio). Frances Aparicio talks about how Aurora Levins Morales' cultural background has influenced her writing and how she is defined as a writer. Towards the end Frances Aparicio states: “As Puerto Ricans have moved away from New York City and settled in other urban centers throughout the United States, their life experiences have varied and the emerging writings are therefore characterized by greater diversity of voices” (Aparicio ). People can move from one place to another and their culture will stay with them regardless or not, whether they are adapting to American culture, there is still a sense of diversity among