In chapter one of “The Color of Water”, Ruth, James McBride’s mother, starts out the book by saying she’s “dead” to her family. Her family wanted no part of Ruth and nor did she (Mcbride1). When she and her family moved to America, back then, her name was changed from Ruchel to Rachel. Ruth got rid of her name, Rachel, when she left to Virginia when she was just nineteen. The fact that Ruth becomes a fugitive is to stay away from her greedy, unaroused, racist father and the suffering of being forced into the practice of Judaism. Since she disliked her father, she distasted the relationship between her mother and father. Even though she deserted her home, she adored her mother. However, Ruth did not fully commit to Judaism and did not see…
“The Color of Water”, written by James McBride, is a memoir. The book was introduced to us in 1995. The main narrator, James, born in the year of 1957 to an African-American father and a Jewish mother. James, at that time, was not to keen about the black power in the sense he had a white mother. During the Civil Rights, his stepfather had passed away. From this point on; James realizes the true responsibility of himself towards his friends and family. He unveils his true self to the world with his memoir entitled “The Color of Water”. His mother’s name was Ruth McBride. Her story was also compelling. Ruth, born in Poland in the year of 1921. Ruth was an immigrant to the United States. Later in her life, she met her black husband Andrew Dennis…
The next chapter that I chose from The Color of Water involving conflict is chapter 11. Ruth McBride Jordan, known in her youth as Rachel Shilsky, grew up in the town of Suffolk and during her time living there racism and discrimination were in full force. All the kids at her school didn't bother with her because even though she was white, she was still a Jew and she just wanted to be an American teenager like the rest of them doing the same things. They never accepted her and that's why when she finally had a friend who didn't judge her he was black. Ruth says "My black friends never asked me how much money I made, or what school my children went to, or anything like that. They just said, 'Come as you are.' Blacks have always been peaceful…
The story The Color of Water takes place in several different regions from Suffolk, Virginia to the city of Harlem, New York. James McBride is the author and it is an autobiography of his life, and his mother, Ruth. The story reveals James’ life with eleven other siblings, the hardship of being interracial, the struggles of poverty, and his mother’s strong character. Ruth’s strong determination led her twelve kids to become successful doctors, nurses, lawyers, musicians, poets, and most importantly parents. However, it was not easy being a single white mother of twelve interracial kids. She had an unwavering faith in God and strong moral convictions. To Ruth, issues of race and identity took secondary importance to moral beliefs. The story The Color of Water brings an interesting perspective and determination to the audience. The overall value of the story is important and relevant to know, that it does not matter where you come from nor the color of your skin, but what you do in this life that matters. James McBride had the inspiration to write this story as a tribute to his mother. He realized that his siblings nor him knew anything about his Ruth’s painful past. Therefore, she refused to discuss her painful reality at first, and then she caved. He began traveling and searching on a first-hand experience interviewing people from his mother’s past. The reason, why his mother did not agree with James’ idea is because she was not ready to confront her painful reality. However, James’ vision led to an amazing inspiring story about the life of his mother, and her twelve successful children.…
In the book, The Color of Water, by James McBride, a young colored man deals with growing up and having a white mother. James McBride always realized that his mother was different from his friends mothers, but he never understood why. He would always ask his mother why she was different but she would just reply that all people are the same. He never knew anything about the background of his mother because she never talked about it and he was afraid to ask. She would ride her old bicycle in an all black neighborhood that was run by the black panthers. James was scared for his mother because even though he was young at the time, he knew what was going on. I think that this book was an impressive view on how twelve young colored children reacted towards having a white mother during the civil rights movement.…
Affirmative action was a policy set into place to even the playing field for all races, religion, gender or national origin. In his article “Whites Swim in Racial Preference” Tim Wise gives an in depth view of racial preference of Whites versus any other race. Even though affirmative action has been set into place, Whites still have the advantage to excel since they are given more opportunities and advantages simply because of their race. One of the examples that is used by Tim Wise is the point systems that is used by the University of Michigan has set up an even though 20 additional points for minority groups even after it is all totaled…
Readers are enlightened by a true story about the relationship between a black boy and his white mother and how it all unfolds. In the novel, “The Color of Water,” by James McBride, he tells his story about growing up in an interracial household. Although they had a rocky relationship McBride looks up to his mother in some ways. Of the many things that occur, James’s mother Ruth never tells him the truth about her back round, Ruth holds a lot inside herself from him, and James becomes very rebellious toward his mother after his step-father dies.…
The first thought that comes to mind when talking about racism is the separation of two races based on skin tone. “In 1960, when a six-year-old girl enrolled in a white school in New Orleans, parents withdrew their white children in her class. She was the only child in her classroom for over a year.”(Baughman et. al.). In the 1960s, African Americans were mistreated in the US, mostly in the south. Kathryn Stockett, the author, assumed that society wouldn’t be as understanding in her writing The Help, because many wouldn’t clasp the fact that the nation was discriminating.(Stockett). For her, though, it was convenient to write about the other side of the situation in this era. “I don’t have to think about the dialect. It wasn’t hard for me to get that musicality on the page because I started writing the voice of Demeitre and she sounded exactly the way I wrote her.”(Stockett). Growing up, she had an African American maid,Demeitre, in which she got close with, and being accustomed to her always being around, it later got her to write Aibileen’s parts in the…
In The Color of Water by James McBride, we are taught through the eyes of a black man and his white mother that color shouldn’t matter. Although Ruth McBride Jordan had grown up as a Jew and had a father who disliked Jews very much, she was never prejudice against them and learned that she fit into the black world better than the white world. When she married a black man, she accepted Christ into her life and told her children, “God is the color of water.” She taught her kids that color didn’t matter, because God loves all races.…
Separate Pasts is an award winning novel written by Melton A. McLaurin that delves into the 1950s era where racism was evident around each corner. McLaurin honestly explores the relationships he had with his fellow white peers as well as the African Americans during his childhood in the southern United States. This novel was a moving tale that examined the racist times that plagued our vast history. McLaurin did not understand at a young age how much race played a part in life, but had the decency to be kind hearted to each person he encountered, regardless of their ethnicity. Throughout the book, McLaurin discussed how segregated the tiny town of Wade was and how the blacks would never be deemed equal to the whites, regardless of their hard work or honesty. I believe that McLaurin adequately proves that Wade was a town divided entirely upon race and social economic status.…
The Color of Water is the story of James McBride as he grows up and finds himself through his mother, Ruth McBride. He was born to a white mother, Ruth, and a black father, Andrew Dennis McBride, with seven older siblings, all black. His father died early on and his mother remarried another black man, Hunter Jordan, and had four more black children before his stepfather died as well, leaving him with a white mother and eleven black siblings, making Ruth McBride the only white in the house. This often raises questions in the McBride/Jordan household, but these are usually met with vague answers. “When I asked her where she was from, she would say ‘God made me,’ and change the subject. When I asked her if she was white, she’d…
In The Color of Water the McBride family experienced this struggle. Their parents were of mixed race. The matter was not accepted by Ruth’s parents when she married a black man (2). James McBride would avoid being seen in public with his mother in fear of embarrassment because she was white. People determine their identity in the ways we are seen by others. Feeling uncomfortable in society by peers distinguishes how people are with their friends and family. Race among peers determine how a person chooses to fit in society. I choose the people I want to surround myself with based on the way I’d like to be seen. If I were to walk with a group of black people there would be less chance of myself being judged. In The Color of Water James states that he didn’t want to have children with his college sweetheart because he felt he didn’t want a child of his to grow up like himself (264). People sometimes choose a path to be seen that affects future generations. A Second example is how physical and mental abuse would affect a person’s future and what kind of person they will grow into. An abusive percent would cause damage to a child’s self-confidence and ability to function in…
Discuss Ruth McBride's refusal to reveal her past and how that influenced her children's sense of themselves and their place in the world. How has your knowledge—or lack thereof—about your family background shaped your own self-image?…
The infamous motel manager racist, who, after black protest jumped on the pool to protest against it been used only for the white people, didn’t hesitate to pour a bottle of muriatic acid into the pool.…
Ever wonder what life would be like if there was never discrimination to start with? There is nothing more isolating than living in a society that casts judgment on groups or individuals based on ill-conceived notions and specific criterion. Both Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea and Sophie in Breath, Eyes, Memoryface many circumstances where they are both alienated and each one finds different ways to make themselves heard and resist. Alienation comes in many forms including but not limited to race, gender, and subject versus object.…