She comments that she does not deny everyone in her blood and genes and that she passes it all on (393). She's grateful that millions more Americans now check more than just one box. Although Rhodes identifies as African American on the census, she knows that doesn't limit her lineage. Rodriguez feels different about the racial category. He says that while he was in college, Richard Nixon asked the Office of Management and Budget to define the five major racial groups in the United States (142). He goes on to say that no one will ever meet a Hispanic because it is a gringo invention and that in Latin America there are Chileans, Mexicans or Peruvians but no Hispanics (142). Rodriguez says Hispanic describes the way that person lives and farms and even coins Hispanic as an ethnic term. Both Rhodes and Rodriguez show how people now choose to identify themselves. Although they have learned to identify each other by the color of their skin, both know there is more than that. America is a country in full evolution, where mixed race people are more and more numerous. Assimilation is happening everywhere and there is nothing we can do about it. Culture and race are not the same thing and how some choose to identify themselves becomes very different. America will only become more diverse and categorizing everyone by race will only preserve the notion of being.