In James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, he relates the narrative of his struggle to understand and accept himself as a multiracial person dealing with his mother's terrible past. McBride's analysis of these themes demonstrates that self-awareness and family harmony are founded on embracing and reconciling one's many aspects of heritage. The book reveals, utilizing his experiences and his mother Ruth's observations, that personal and familial peace can only be attained by completely recognizing one's mixed heritage. McBride's struggle with his racial identity is an important aspect of his quest to understand himself. His mother's ambiguous responses to his refer to race, such as her statement, "You are a human being." "Educate yourself or you'll be nobody!" McBride, 92, a.k.a. McBride, 92. This emphasizes the contradiction between society's labels and personal identity. Ruth's emphasis on education as a means of overcoming racial barriers shows her conviction in the inherent value of every person, regardless of skin color. This idea serves as a guiding principle for McBride as he navigates the world's racial differences. …show more content…
Her divergent beliefs on race, such as believing "white folks... were implicitly evil towards blacks" yet insisting on her children attending primarily white schools for better education, demonstrate the intricacies of her worldview (McBride, 27). These paradoxes reflect the larger cultural conflicts that Ruth and her family must deal with, underlining the importance of acceptance in the face of competing