Racism

The author's experience as a Latina woman is interwoven as a theme throughout the memoir, as she details various aspects of her parents' cultures, and also instances of racism that have affected her significantly. Hernández's mother and aunts are Colombian and her father is Cuban. As a child of immigrants and one of the few non-white students at her elementary school, Hernández struggles to learn English and feels singled out and ashamed when she is given extra lessons or receives poor grades. As she begins to excel at school, immersing herself in English classes in particular, Hernández feels she must distance herself from her family and their language and culture to better assimilate in a white environment. “If white people do not get rid of you, it is because they intend to get all of you,” she declares, “They will only keep you if they...