white. This creates a whole different issue. However, the narrative shifts from Elena's mother being worried about Elena possibly being enticed into fooling around with boys to her worrying about Elena not honoring the recently shot president. For instance, when Elena's mother hears that her daughter would rather go see a boy than stay home and respect President Kennedy's death, she seems to be more disappointed about that than she is about Elena's present decision to visit a boy.

It's at that point that Elena's mother must realize that if her daughter won't even respect the fact that President Kennedy has just died, then Elena is grown up enough to face the consequences of her other choices, such as going to visit a white boy. Hence, she leaves one last "resigned" warning for her daughter by saying that Elena will experience "humiliation and pain" for this choice. The word "resigned" implies that Elena's mother chooses to give up the nagging. Maybe her mother feels a little humiliated that her daughter won't respect her family's tradition to mourn at a time of national mourning; therefore, she allows Elena to experience said humiliation in order to teach her a life lesson.

In "American History" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Elena's mother doesn't stop her from going to visit her beau, whose mother is racist. Elena's mother doesn't stop her from going to Eugene's because she knows she can't shield Elena forever from racism and xenophobia. Instead, she lets her have the negative experience so that she understands to some extent what she might have to face in the future.

Elena—also known as Skinny Bones—is Puerto Rican, but her family moved to Paterson, New Jersey. Eugene, the boy she falls for, also recently relocated from Georgia. They like each other despite the cultural differences and he studies with her. After studying together for awhile, he invites her over to his house to study.

This invitation is exciting for Elena because she had wondered about his family and longed to meet them. When Elena pitches the idea to her mother, she's clearly not happy to let her daughter go and study with Eugene even though he lives across the street. She doesn't stop her but does warn her that she's going to experience "humiliation and pain."

In the end, Eugene's mother dismisses and rejects Elena. Her tone is unfriendly as soon as she opens the door. She says that Eugene cannot study with her anymore. Elena has to experience the pain and humiliation of those words. Her mother clearly knew it would happen and let her daughter have that experience in a physically safe environment instead of letting her remain sheltered from how people might judge and treat her.

This is an interesting observation to make. Surely we would think that any parent would want to stop their children from experiencing "humiliation and pain," and yet the text tells us that Elena's mother does nothing to prevent her daughter from going to Eugene's house and experiencing the shock and pain of what transpires there. Let us examine the text a bit more closely to help us answer this question:

"You are forgetting who you are, Nina. I have seen you staring down at that boy's house. You are heading for humiliation and pain." My mother said this in Spanish in a resigned tone that surprised me, as if she had not intention of stopping me from "heading for humiliation and pain."

Clearly, the "resigned tone" that Elena's mother uses is important because she seems to recognise that Elena's death of innocence and coming-of-age is an event that is inevitable and beyond her control. Elena's mother, having experienced discrimination in her life, recognises that she can do nothing to prevent her daughter from realising the way that her ethnicity will cause others to treat her differently, and clearly feels that Elena has reached an age where she must confront such brutal facts for herself.

Eugene's mother is from Georgia and his father moved the family to Paterson, New Jersey because of a work transfer. Elena learns from Eugene that his mother is not happy living in New Jersey, probably because she misses her home back in Georgia. Based on historical facts, Eugene's mother is probably used to living in an environment of segregation, where different races don't mix socially. If that's the case, then Eugene's mother probably doesn't like living right next door to a large apartment complex filled with Puerto Ricans, either.

When Elena shows up at Eugene's house for their study date, his mother doesn't even greet her politely. Her first question to Elena is "What do you want?" When Elena shows his mother her books and tells her about the study date, she responds by asking, "You live there?" and points to the apartments. The woman then mumbles, "I don't know how you people do it," and tells Elena that Eugene doesn't want to study with her. Eugene's mother doesn't come right out and say that she doesn't approve of her white son befriending a minority, though. She blames it on the fact that they will be moving soon and "it'll just make it harder for him later." 

Thus, Eugene's mother is prejudiced against Elena's race because of her upbringing in Georgia. Therefore, she must think it is okay to talk to Elena that way. Also, she's negative towards Elena because she isn't happy living in Paterson and she isn't happy living next-door to an apartment building filled with people of a different race.