美國作家Judith Ortiz Cofer（1952～）出生於波多黎各，西班牙語是她的母語，她的作品帶有自傳色彩也反映雙重文化的影響。《美國歷史》故事發生在甘迺迪總統被暗殺的這一天。

我住在新澤西州貝特遜市一棟波多黎各移民群居的公寓，我讀九年級。這天我們在學校操場上運動，體育老師突然淚流滿面語帶哽咽地說：譗總統死了，回家去吧。豃還不到放學時間，我們收好書離開學校。街上安靜得有些可怕，擁擠的十字路口車輛都慢下來，沒有喇叭聲，遊蕩的無業遊民也消失無影。公寓聽不到震耳欲聾的拉丁舞曲，我進入家門，媽媽瞪著電視哭，看到我只說一聲：譗天啊！豃眼睛又回到電視。
There was an eerie feeling on the streets. The traffic on one of the busiest intersections in Paterson seemed to be moving slower. There were no horns blasting that day. The usual little group of unemployed men were not hanging out ...... When I walked into our apartment, I found my mother sitting in front of the grainy picture of the television set. She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and just said: "Dios mio," turning back to the set as if it were pulling at her eyes.

總統死了！我應該悲傷，可是我卻抑制不了心中的興奮，因為Eugene邀我到他家一起準備考試。他和父母八月才搬來住在我們公寓旁的兩層樓房。從我的臥室往下看正是他家的廚房。我常偷看金髮、高瘦、戴眼鏡的他，坐在廚房餐桌旁讀書，我暗中迷戀上他。他是資優班的學生，我的成績雖然拿全A，但是母語不是英語，所以不能進資優班。我每天從窗戶看他，幻想著踏入他家，看看其他的房間，更渴望像大人一般和他坐在廚房喝咖啡、談談書本。
What I wanted now was to enter that house I had watched for so many years. I wanted to see the other rooms where the boy spent his time. Most of all, I wanted to sit at the kitchen table with Eugene like two adults, maybe drink some coffee and talk about books.

我擦上口紅拿著書要出門，媽媽擔心地說：譗總統死了，我們去教堂吧！豃譗我要去同學家準備考試！豃譗女兒，我知道妳常盯著那個男孩的家看，別忘了自己的身分，妳這是自尋羞辱和痛苦。豃我走到Eugene的家門口，他媽媽開門，看了我一眼，問我是住在旁邊的公寓嗎？我望著灰色的公寓，牆外生鏽的防火梯好像一棟監獄。譗聽好！我的兒子不用和妳一起讀書，他很聰明不需要幫忙。我們很快就會搬走，他不必和這裡的人太親近，免得將來後悔。回去吧！豃我像是失了神，愣在那裡。她生氣地說：譗妳沒聽到嗎？豃回到家，我躺在床上，很想為被暗殺的總統哀悼，但是我明白，流出的眼淚卻完全是為自己而流。
That night, I lay in my bed trying to feel the right thing for our dead President. But the tears that came up from a deep source inside me were strictly for me.

1963年11月22日寫下了美國歷史上傷痛的一頁；而故事中我的記憶深處，是生命中的失落與悲哀。