The Color of Water, by James McBride

This book is a black man’s tribute to his white mother. The author was born to a African-American father and a white, Jewish mother, originally from Poland. He tells the story of his family’s struggle to survive at a time when interracial marriages were rare and practically forbidden and his personal journey to find his own sense of identity. James McBride is an award winning writer and composer and an accomplished saxophonist. He has a B.A. from Oberlin College, a M.S.J. in Journalism from Columbia. He is currently a Distinguished Writer-In-Residence at New York University.

Ruth McBride was a private person. She didn’t really want people to know her business. She didn’t want her children to find out the horrors of her past so she was trying to tell them she is a new person. She says that she is dead because she has no part of her Jewish life anymore, she has a new life now. Her parents had disowned her for marrying a black man. At first her children were confused because they were black and she was white. However, her refusal to discuss her past influenced them to find their own way in the world. She always told them to get an education to be somebody. I think she wanted them to focus on their education and not to be hurt by the conflicts of her past. She identified herself as part of the black community, living in Harlem and attending black churches.

I think Ruth’s contradictions probably confused her children at first but she was thinking about their future. By making her black children go to white schools they got a better education. As she used to say, “ What’s money if your mind is empty.” I think that later in life her contradictions probably helped them to understand that there is good and bad in every race.

Ruth was born an Orthodox Jew, her Jewish name was Ruchel Dwajra Zylska. When her parents came to America they changed her name to Rachel Deborah Shilsky so she would fit in better in America. She got rid of that name at nineteen when she left Virginia in 1941. She was finished with that life. Now her name is Ruth McBride Jordan because of whom she married. Her first marriage was to Andrew Dennis McBride who was James’ biological father. He died from lung cancer at a young age. Her second marriage was to Hunter Jordan who was James’ stepfather but the real male symbol in his life. James referred to him as “Daddy”. He died from a stroke when James was a teenager. With each name change she left behind a part of her life to begin a new chapter.

Ruth and Tateh both ran their household strictly. When they made a rule it was a law. But they went about their law making in a different way. Tateh ran his children into the ground with work and punishments. While he was away he made them run his grocery store by themselves. He showed his family no love. Ruth finally left when she was fed up with his selfish ways and cruel punishments. Ruth on the other hand was strict but still compassionate. She expected top grades and worked very hard to put all twelve children in college. She sacrificed a lot for her children. Although Tateh was a rabbi his children could see that he was a hypocrite but Ruth’s faith in God was convincing to her children.

When James found out his mother’s past that enabled him to find out where he came from and to have a better sense of who he was. By revealing her past he realised that it doesn’t matter what color you are, we are all equal human beings.

The title of the book, The Color of Water, is significant because it teaches us that we all have different cultures and religions but we were all made by God. James’ mother told him that God is the color of water and that water doesn’t have a color. I also think that was a good statement because water is transparent and reflects all the colors around it. We can all see ourselves in God.

The McBride children grew up in the times of Malcolm X, the Black Panthers and Martin Luther King in the 1960s. James was influenced by his older siblings and developed a sense of black pride. He wanted to be black, not white and wished his mother was black to make their lives easier. He was afraid for his mother’s safety during the black power movement. The book reveals that James as an adult is disgusted by black leaders talking about Jewish slave owners as if they are solely responsible for the problems of Afro-American people today and thinks they are no better than Jewish people who make blacks out to be drags on our society. I think that James dislikes anyone who stereotypes any race of people encouraging racism.

I think that The Color of Water is a very inspirational book. The lives of James McBride and Ruth McBride Jordan have changed the lives of others by letting them know that it’s not the outer appearance of a person that’s important but the inside. I would recommend this book to people of all races and religions because I think especially in today’s world it will encourage everyone to be more open-minded and accepting of each other.

Julius H.