Race, Religion, And Education In The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

Have you ever experienced personal conflict with racial identity, education, or religion? In 2014, 46% of adults thought our country needed to continue making black rights equal to white rights, while 49% of the country had already made their necessary changes for blacks and whites to have equal standards. This statistic on the contrast between white and black privileges incessantly relates to the novel, The Color of Water, by James McBride. This book expands the truth of white and black lives in perspective of the main characters: Ruth, a white Jewish woman, and James, a black, growing adolescent boy. James and his mother, Ruth, are constantly battling the hardships of race, religion, and education throughout their journey to inner success

Specifically, Ruth ultimately loves God, and it does not matter that she was “the only white person” in a church full of blacks (45). Society’s view on color never compels Ruth to withdraw from her faith. It does not matter to Ruth that she is the only white person in the church, instead she is still certain of her perspective of Christianity and makes a successful relationship with God. Further, when Ruth’s graduation proceeds in a church, she cannot go inside: “In my heart, I was still a Jew” (158). Even when Ruth is inexperienced and unsure about her beliefs, she remains respectful of the Jewish traditions she was taught during her childhood. This accentuates Ruth’s ongoing desire to put spiritual morals as number one even over her own opinion on the issue. Additionally, Ruth explains to James that God is “the color of water” when he is curious of God’s color (51). Ruth’s perspective of Christianity is based off of the equality that she, too, used to raise her household. Ruth indicates that God does not have an engraved title of a nationality, so why should anyone be held back from their nationality if God is neutral to the color of one’s skin? Ruth helps solve James’s self-curiosity that God is not a specific race or color, but a figure of uniformity and integrity. Ruth speaks of God as

For example, Ruth constantly strains how important school is and how this intention “was a top priority” for her children (69). Through inducements, Ruth’s urgency for her children to achieve education becomes an effective focal point in the way she raises her family to be hard-headed and independent students. Ruth always believes in her children and their potential to be educated and to live a structured life. Similarly, when James confronts Ruth about skin color, she declares, “educate yourself or you’ll be nobody!” (92). Ruth demonstrates that lack of education degrades your self-worth as a person, and will effect someone to fail in life. Ruth encourages school because each of her children have their own control over how they participate, thus giving them the opportunity to succeed. Education is a concept that race has no part in, and is why Ruth highlights that education trumps race. It does not matter if a person is white or black, if they are educated they can be someone with a purpose in life. As a result, James pursues educating himself, just as his mother demands: “College was my way out” (188). Through the influence of the streets, education is one of the few elements that helps James pull his life out of the pessimism. College represents James coming to the end of his adolescence and beginning a fresh