I merely agreed to write to several schools. (In my letter I wrote: "I cannot claim to represent disadvantaged Mexican-Americans. The very fact that I am in a position to apply for this job should make that clear.") After two or three days, there were telegrams and phone calls, invitations to interviews, then airplane trips. A blur of faces and the murmur of their soft questions. And, over someone's shoulder, the sight of campus buildings shadowing pictures I had seen years before when I leafed through Ivy League catalogues with great expectations. At the end of each visit, interviewers would smile and wonder if I had any questions. A few times I quietly wondered what advantage my race had given me over other applicants. But that was an impossible question for them to answer without embarrassing me. Quickly, several persons insisted that my ethnic identity had given me no more than a "foot inside the door": at most, I had a "slight edge" over other applicants. "We just looked at your dossier with extra care and we liked what we saw. There was never any question of having to alter our standards. You can be certain of that."
我只是同意了会给几个学校写信。（在信里我写道：“我不会声称自己代表弱势的墨西哥裔美国人。事实是，我有能力申请这份工作，这点需要明确。”）两三天后，我便收到通知面试的电报、电话和邀请函，然后便是飞机旅程。再就是一片模糊的脸庞以及他们并不太难的问题的低语声。然后，越过某个人的肩膀，我看到校园中隐映的建筑的画面，这种画面我曾在多年前满怀希望地快速翻阅常青藤学校目录时见过。在每次面试的最后，面试者都会微笑着问我是否有问题要问。有几次我轻声地问，相对于其他申请者，我的种族带给了我什么优势。 但是，如果他们回答起来，那是一个不可能不使我尴尬的问题。很快，几个人便坚持说我的种族身份只不过让我“一只脚踏入了大门”而已；至多，我只比其他申请者有“略微的优势”。“我们只是在看你的档案时额外留意了一下，我们喜欢我们所看到的。绝对不存在改变我们的标准的问题。你可以确信这一点。”
In the early part of January, offers arrived on stiffly elegant stationery. Most schools promised terms appropriate for any new assistant professor. A few made matters worse—and almost more tempting—by offering more: the use of university housing; an unusually larger starting salary; a reduced teaching schedule. As the stack of letters mounted, my hesitation increased. I started calling department chairmen to ask for another week, then 10 more days—"more time to reach a decision"—to avoid the decision I would need to make.
在一月份的早些时候，我收到了写在坚挺而优美的信纸上的工作邀约。大多数学校都允诺了适合任何新助理教授的条款。一部分学校让事情变得更糟——提供的条件更优越——它们提供得更多：可使用学校住房；非比寻常的高额起薪；缩减的教学计划。随着信函越来越多，我越来越踌躇不安。我开始打电话让系主任们再多给我一周的时间，然后是十多天——“更多的时间来做决定”——以逃避我需要做的决定。