Memoir: The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

Richaunti Williams

AP English 3

4th period

PART I:

The Color of Water by James McBride

Memoir

Published in 1995

James McBride is our protagonist of this story. A biracial man just trying to figure out where he comes from, and by that I mean, where his mother comes from.

Racism is the primary antagonist, because

This story is an autobiography/memoir of James McBride and his mother, Ruth McBride. In it, he recounts his childhood, his teenage years, his adult life and his struggles of being a biracial child, with a white mother, in an all black neighborhood. It is also a memoir to his mother, because it features little bits and pieces of her past and her story. She also recounts her childhood, her move to america and all that jazz.

Racism,

I didn't want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black. Now, as a grown man, I feel privileged to have come from two worlds.”

At the start of the quote he is referring to his time as a teenager when the black panthers and the NAACP were on the rise. He wished he was just black, not white, not mixed, but just black. He was tired of being treated differently for being half white. However, as he got older, he started to embrace his white side and he was getting more and more comfortable with herself.

“I belong to the world of one God, one people. But as a kid, I preferred the black side, and often wished that Mommy had sent me to black schools like my friends”

This quote builds off of the quote above. I feel it further explains just how… uncomfortable and unhappy James was with being biracial as a child. His mother insisted her children go to all jewish schools, because she felt they’d get a better education there. And of course, they were the only black kids there. They were treated differently and discriminated against, so here he is saying he much rathered to go to an all black school, despite getting a less than education, he just wanted to be surrounded by people who looked like

From both white and black people. And even more when she was seen walking through town with a million mixed children. Ruth always taught her kids to ignore racism. Some worked in the civil rights movement. But both their white and black backgrounds mixed together, helped them surpass the racial division in the United States.

“As a grown man, I understand now, understand how her Christian principles and trust in God kept her going through all her life’s battles”

Ruth had converted from Judaism to Christianity following her mother's death. To which she sought love, comfort, and forgiveness in her husband's church and her faith.And when her husband died and left her with no money, she was left only with her trust in god to help her raise all 10,000 of her children.

“You know death was always around Suffolk, always around. It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off.”

This quote was said by Ruth, James’ mother, as she recalls the town she grew up in, Suffolk. With this quote, she’s saying how though it may seem like Suffolk was all happy and smiles, it had a dark side, it was death ridden. The fake smiles, the over politeness was just a cover