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The COLOR OF WATER by James McBride is an enlightening novel that takes us through the life of a Jewish-African american boy, James and his Jewish mother, Ruth. The novel brings about many themes that will be analyzed such as discovering ones identity, the relationship between education and poverty, and how religion played a factor in the way the family was constructed.
The COLOR OF WATER by James McBride is an enlightening novel that takes us through the life of a Jewish-African american boy, James and his Jewish mother, Ruth. The novel brings about many themes that will be analyzed such as discovering ones identity, the relationship between education and poverty, and how religion played a factor in the way the family was constructed.
The COLOR OF WATER by James McBride is an enlightening novel that takes us through the life of a Jewish-African american boy, James and his Jewish mother, Ruth. The novel brings about many themes that will be analyzed such as discovering ones identity, the relationship between education and poverty, and how religion played a factor in the way the family was constructed.
The Color of Water-A Black Mans Tribute to His White Mother
Derek Smith University at Buffalo
THE COLOR OF WATER
The Color of Water by James McBride is an enlightening novel that takes us through the life of a Jewish-African American Boy, James and his Jewish Mother, Ruth. As a child James always wondered about his identity while always getting denied any insight to his background and heritage by his mother. To give her 12 black children a better life, Ruth made countless sacrifices throughout the years to provide for her children and to survive on her own. After Ruth was shunned and disowned from her Jewish family for being in a relationship with a black man, she turned to religion and God to help her throughout the darkest times in her years ahead. The novel brings about many themes that will be analyzed such as discovering ones identity, the relationship between education and poverty, how religion played a factor in the way the family was constructed, and how racism, prejudice, and the ways in which discrimination were seen throughout the lives of Ruth and her colored children. (McBride 2014) I would like to start off this analysis of The Color of Water with a look at the United States Constitution. The constitution is set forth to provide American Citizens the groundwork in explaining the overall structure of the US government and providing people with basic rights as members of this country. The constitution is introduced with the preamble We the people. It is ironic that the first part of the constitution mentions we the people when it clearly does not include the black people of the 20th century. The American Constitution guarantees have not been realized in the time and places during the time period of the novel. For years, Blacks, Native Americans, and non-Anglo-Saxons were treated as second-class citizens. Our own doctrine guarantees us 5 things: Justice, Domestic Tranquility, Common Defense, General Welfare, and Blessings of Liberty. Throughout this Novel you can see many times that justice was not ensured, for example
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when Ruths son got pulled over and taken to court for a traffic violation and the only thing that stopped the judge from pressing charges and convicting him of guilt was the fact that Ruth was a privileged white lady, the same skin color as the judge. Throughout the years because of many unjust laws and regulations, there have been amendments to our constitution that allowed and encouraged more freedom of oppressed groups. To ensure domestic tranquility- would have been to ensure peacefulness throughout the country. Due to the thick amount of prejudice that was being experienced by black people, there was no peacefulness being brought about. As a young Jewish girl growing up in Norfolk, Virginia one would think that because Ruth was light skinned she was off the hook. The discrimination and prejudice that was going on in the South was extremely horrific. Jim Crow laws enacted legislation that allowed blacks separate but equal treatment and had an effect on the way society treated black people. Despite the negative effects and danger of being seen with a black person in public, Ruth fell in love with a black man named Peter. It was a shame in the eyes of the white people in her town; with it carried a negative stigma. One could have gotten killed or hung for interacting with another race, particularly black people. As a child, Ruth suffered because she was not white Anglo-Saxon to fit into her towns society, which she realized very quickly and sympathized with the black folks in her town because of their genuine care for people. Not accepted with whites and not accepted with blacks is a struggle that not only Ruth faced but her children as they started to discover themselves. As Ruth assimilated into life in the black neighborhoods, she again initially felt like she was not wanted. Although her black husband had changed that perception and brought her life, it was difficult living a life that people didnt accept her for who
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she was. Although Ruth got initial stares and weird looks from black folks, most eventually accepted her. Contrary to this, the white folks never really agreed with what Ruth did, how she lived, and how and whom she loved. This caused Ruth to assimilate into the culture on the black side of town and accept herself and her newfound religion. The prejudice starts from the life of Ruth and her father Mr. Shilsky. The time period, the stereotype and negative stigma surrounding blacks during that period and geographical location held an extremely prejudice view toward black people. As a storeowner, he would charge black folks more on basic necessity items simply because he did not like them. He had a strong vengeance against black people. As by definition, prejudice is a negative thought, feeling, or attitude toward someone who is different from you. It is not the discrimination itself but it can lead to be inclined to such acts. In society there are many forms of prejudice such as race, sex, education, class, ability, and sexual preference. Prejudice was seen throughout the book from the very beginning when James talked about how he would ride the subway with his mother and they would mutter look at her with those little niggers or people yelling down the street nigger lover (McBride 31). Even as a kid, Ruth experienced prejudice amongst the White Anglo Saxon Protestants because she was Jewish. Ruths mother was treated poorly and seen and referred to as a cripple because she had polio. Most notably of course, was a lot of prejudice amongst the black folks. We can see this through the lens of Mr. Shilsky, the officers, and the community. Based on Mertons Typology, we live in a world of people being non-prejudice-discriminators and non-discriminating-prejudice people. I believe this is developed through our social construct of life and the agents of socialization such as media, education, religion, and family. Religion was a big agent of socialization within
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this novel; it provided the roadmap for the way in which Ruth raised her children and the way in which she found new life from her transformation of being an Orthodox Jew to a new Christian. Religion is what kept Ruth going, stating that all she needed to do was believe in God. It is interesting how the relationship between religion and race were prevalent when James asked what the color of Gods spirit was and his mom replying that is doesnt have a color, it is the color of water. I think the fact that his mother didnt abide by God being white allowed her to continue to be a believer in the spirit and truly give herself to God. (McBride 51) A theme that I would like to point out is the relationship between education and poverty which creates systemic and institutionalized discrimination. As Ruth was a young High School girl in Virginia she completed high school and went to live in New York. Pregnant at age 15, candidate for an abortion, a close encounter with prostitution, she was always at her wits end before meeting Mr. McBride. Although they would always seem to struggle Ruth made it a point to make tremendous sacrifices to pay for her children to attend camps, retreats, school functions, and ultimately college. She would often at times give up her last penny just to make sure her child was safe and had a little extra change to get by. Despite her children not wanting to attend, she enrolled her children in all Jewish schools at young ages. My argument is that education saved Ruth. Having 12 children allowed for her to seek support from them as they grew of age. Once the eldest child was in his career full time, he provided support for his mother and it became an escape of freedom and less struggle. All 12 of her children went and pursued higher education and have become successful, and it is no coincidence; its the work and the values that Ruth set up based on the environment that she created in her household. When James and his
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family moved to Wilmington, it was a quick shock for him and his family to realize how much the area was segregated. Were most of the black kids attended understaffed and underfunded city schools while whites attended sparkling clean suburban schools with fantastic facilities. (McBride 2014). A framework such as this creates a much larger problem than black kids and white kids going to different schools. This creates an access issue in life. This systemic piece shows and limits minorities from pursuing careers, attending universities, and living a free and fair life that our constitution has set it would do. Due to the many injustices and sociological classifications as the one-drop rule, it allowed for the continuance of racial segregation and racism to occur in the 20th century. Also, because of De jure discrimination put in place by black codes and Jim Crow laws the area of schooling leads to discrimination De Facto. Yes, all men are created equal but not all men are treated equally, and more importantly, this society is not made up of all men. We can see throughout the story that James is experiencing cognitive dissonance; his values and beliefs dont align with his actions. A major factor in this case is the fact that he is struggling with his identity. After getting fired from the Dawsons, a white couple who intended to help pay for James Europe trip in return for assistance at their property, James finds out a while later that Mr. Dawson had died. When James gets the letter from Ms. Dawson, a white lady, and is standing in the street with his black friends, he is torn to stand up for what he believes is true and joins his friends as they talk poorly of white people saying Forget these whiteys. Theyre all rich. They got no problems (McBride 187). Although James appreciated all the support that the Dawsons had provided for him, he was stuck in the middle of facing his friends and having them judge
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him on the fact that he did not in fact agree with their thoughts. I didnt want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me (103) we can see how James always struggled to find who he was. At this point in life, he could see the vast differences of how certain people were being treated and how the community where he lived didnt favor whites. Although whites got the privilege, I think because of the exposure of negativity and hardship that his white mother faced, it led James off into a direction and place where he did not want to associate himself with. I believe that James went through a model of Biracial Identity Development in which Poston and Kich talked about. First holding an identity of yourself, choosing where you fit into society, denying yourself, coming to appreciate his identity, and then fully integrating it in his life (Cuyet et al 199) This novel really resonated with me because I am James. Although my mother is not Jewish, she is very light skinned and looks nothing like me. All my life growing up people would ask if I was adopted or who that lady was. Never was my mom ashamed of raising two black mixed boys in a society full of hatred. Growing up was extremely difficult going to public schools that were predominately white where kids would call me nigger, we would be disowned by our own grandmother who at one point would not allow my mother to step foot on her property because she was upset that her daughter was in a relationship with a black man. Then we would get the occasional calls to the house from my uncle who would call my mom a nigger lover because he was upset. It amazes me how strong and triumphant Ruth and my own Mother are to live in such a society where there is such a negative stigma of being with someone of color. When you are led to believe something that you are not your whole life, it is very difficult to see that there
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are so many opportunities that lie ahead for you. You have to choose between what the world expects of you and what you want for yourself (McBride 161). The authors goals in the book The Color of Water were to showcase how learning about our past can clear the way and make sense of what is going on in the present. Through this process the author took us on a journey to lay the backbone as to how life as a light skinned Jewish lady may have not been all that different than that of a JewishAfrican American boy. Although with lighter skin there comes privilege, this novel showed how Ruth raised her kids in a society that favored light skin with many of the barriers that went against and prevented people of color to exceed in society. The book shows the discrimination, prejudice, and stigma that black people faced and the injustices that our society has implemented, to oppress people of color when we are supposedly all created equal.
References
THE COLOR OF WATER
Cuyjet, M. (2011). Multiculturalism on campus theory, models, and practices for understanding diversity and creating inclusion. Sterling, Va.: Stylus Pub.
McBride, J. (1996). The color of water: A Black man's tribute to his white mother. New York: Penguin Group.
Outline for my Book Report
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Talk about and summarize the book
Give major themes and arguments seen in the reading Talk about the constitution-We the People -Talk about the guarantees of the constitution and how they werent recognized during this period -Talk about the amendments Talk about discrimination and prejudice -What created prejudice? -Who was prejudice? -View of others -negative stigma and why? Talk about agents of socialization- How religion played in the social construction of life -Color of water -different forms of prejudice -not being accepted by either group Theme of education and poverty -access -sacrifice -segregation Identity -Talk about the struggles of identifying with self -Cognitive Dissonance Personal touch -my story Authors goals of the book