Neither did I look like the role models in my lifemy stepfather, my godparents, other relativesall of whom were black. Continue to start your free trial. James' house is messy, a "combination three-ring circus and zoo," with pets rotating in and out. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. They will surely hang me., I know youre gonna marry a shvartse. 4, p. 30).The subject of persecution both as a Jew and then as a white wife in a mixed marriage, Ruth taught her children to ignore racism. Given my black face and upbringing it was easy for me to flee into the anonymity of blackness, yet I felt frustrated to live in a world that considers the color of your face an immediate political statement whether you like it or not. 25, p. 271). I felt like a Tinkertoy kid building my own self out of one of those toy building sets; for as she laid her life before me, I reassembled the tableau of her words like a picture puzzle, and as I did, so my own life was rebuilt. We were all clearly black, of various shades of brown, some light brown, some medium brown, some very light-skinned, and all of us had curly hair. She saw none of it., She wipes her memory instantly and with purpose; its a way of preserving herself., The question of race was like the power of the moon in my house. I went through this entire ordeal and here he was getting busy with somebody else. I know youre gonna marry a shvartse. The man died without a penny, yet his children grew up to graduate from college, to become doctors, professors, teachers, and professionals all (Chpt. Their mixed white and black heritage and strong educational background led to their ability to transcend the color line in America.As a grown man, I understand now, understand how her Christian principles and trust in God kept her going through all her lifes battles (Chpt. As I walked home, holding Mommys hand while she fumed, I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. Ill never learn to drive, she said. Unlike my siblings, he had no opinions. He made no separation between the McBride and the Jordan children, and my siblings and I never thought of or referred to each other as half brothers and half sisters, Mommy, after all, did not really look like me. . There was no turning back after my mother died. She could back the trailer up with the goods in it, unload it at the store, back the car into the yard, unhook the trailer, and park the car in the garage, backing in. She sighs and then states that the times are different. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! LitCharts Teacher Editions. I belong to the world of one God, one people., Like most of the Jews in Suffolk they treated me very kindly, truly warm and welcoming, as if I were one of them which in an odd way I suppose I was. The few problems I had with black folks were nothing compared to the grief white folks dished out. The boy in the mirror, he didnt seem to have an ache. It took me fourteen years to unearth her remarkable story---the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, she married a black man in 1942---and she revealed it more as a favor to me than out of any desire to revisit her past. Hes a spirit. It sounded like Helen. Theyd say for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants only. That was the law there and they meant it. James McBride and The Color of Water Background. She saw none of it. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. There but for the grace of God goes my own motherand by extension, myself. Kiss him. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Who is it? someone asked. James, confused about race in general and specifically where he falls on the spectrum, asks his mother if God is black or white, and Does he like black or white people better? His mother explains that God is colorless, and loves people of all colors equally. Ruth McBride happens to be an American Jewish woman born in the 1920's who encounters . Its not about black or white (Chpt. Her family traveled around the country as her father tried to capitalize on his distinction as a rabbi. Theyre making me marry her, he said. The text critiques racist attitudes, but also explores the internalized racism of some of its black characters, and the ways in which black and white people can overcome strict racial boundaries through love and friendship. As children, James and his siblings believe that if Jesus is truly all colors, he should be painted that way. That started to worry me a little but I didnt worry much., There was no turning back after my mother died. White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. To this day I dont know. But their visible blackness also makes them targets at school, where their white teachers round down their scores, and in the streets, where they are arrested at astounding rates. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. She is reborn through Christianity, and finds that this religion provides her with everything she's always wanted: love and community, a sense of belonging, and a reason to live. 25 Thoughtful Quotes from the Book - The Color of Water. You werent accepted to be with a black man and that was that., One afternoon on the way home from church I asked her whether God was black or white. Id lock myself in the bathroom and spend long hours playing with him. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." They got no problems, and I said, Yeah, man, I hear you, while inside my pocket was the folded letter holding the heartbroken words of an old white lady who had always gone out of her way to help meand many others like me. Theyd walk away from me if they saw me walking down the road coming toward them, and if they came into the store, they wouldnt even look at me. I know youre gonna marry a shvartse. The Color of Water is a moving story that centers around the narrative of son and mother - James and Ruth McBride. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. But I got eight kids and they go to the movies too. Like any family we have problems, but we have always been close. Her first relationship with a boy named Peter ends with an abortion, because she knows she cannot marry him and the town will not accept them (and Peter could even be killed if their relationship was made public). Ruth tells James that her father, although scrupulously religious, was a brutal, racist man who intimidated his meek, disabled wife and his two childrenespecially Ruth, whom he also abused. Gone. The fact that he was black and the girl he was marrying was blackwell, that hurt me even more. Still, she shoots pictures of any event thats important to her, knowing that each memory is too important to lose, having lost so many before. I was loved, I was loved, and I didnt care what anyone thought. Hurry up! The Color of Water is a memoir written about and by James' McBride. | They constantly badgered me to do the James Brown for them, a squiggling of the feet made famous by the Godfather of Soul himself, who back in the sixties was bigger than life. That's all., But at the end of the day, there are some questions that have no answers, and then one answer that has no question: love rules the game. With whites it was no question. This is more important to her than the social consequences of an interracial marriage. Nobody liked me. Mommy was by her own definition, light-skinned, a statement which I had initially accepted as fact but at some point later decided was not true. "Sometimes without conscious realization, our thoughts, our faith, out interests are entered into the past. A group of white men try to kill her and Dennis with bottles when theyre out on the street one night, and a black woman punches Ruth in the face because she disapproves of Ruth and Denniss relationship. The Color of Water Quotes by James McBride - Goodreads Religion can offer both comfort and anguish. This is no place for you to be. She drove the care and trailer on paved and dirt roads between Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and North Carolina. To James, this symbolizes two things. If you throw water on the floor it will always find a hole, believe me. Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family that immigrated to the United States when she was two. Since Ruth is Jewish and James is black, they both faced difficulty with racial discrimination and prejudice. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or comments or would like any additional information. Hes a spirit. Does he like black or white people better?He loves all people. Free trial is available to new customers only. (including. My parents got rid of that name when we came to America and changed it to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and I got rid of that name when I was nineteen and never used it again after I left Virginia for good in 1941. Dee-Dee was a shy, pretty girl, less strong-willed than Ruth. She went to the apartment door and listened. When her husband died and left her poor, she had only her trust in God to help her raise her eight children. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. My parents got rid of that name when we came to America and changed it to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and I got rid of that name when I was nineteen and never used it again after I left Virginia for good in 1941. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Mamehs sisters were more about money than anything else, and any hurts that popped up along the way, they just swept them under the rug. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Yet conflict was a part of our lives, written into our very faces, hands, and arms, and to see how contradiction lived and survived in its essence, we had to look no farther than our own mother. I dont consider myself Jewish, but when I look at Holocaust photographs of Jewish women whose children have been wrenched from them by Nazi soldiers, the women look like my own mother and I think to myself, There but for the grace of God goes my own motherand by extension, myself. She helped me through college and helped me get into graduate school as well; she didnt pay my way, but if I had an emergency, she would help. If the world were fair, I suppose I would have married him, but there was no way that could happen in Virginia. God is the color of water. Mommys contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island. God is the color of water. You know, the thing was, I was supposed to be white and number one, too. By a week. Free trial is available to new customers only. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Rachel, or Ruth as she calls herself, fled her Jewish family when she was eighteen to marry a black man, Andrew McBride. In running from her past, Mommy has created her own nation, a rainbow coalition .