The color of water

Author: James McBride
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: This is an inspiring and uplifting work. I can't find words to express the emotions this book has brought me. It will make you proud to be a part of humanity. This is a great achievement in the genre of memoirs. James McBride reflects on his arduous childhood journey across the racial divide, the spiritual strength and beliefs that touched every soul and lifted it to a new height. Growing up in the Black neighborhood of Brooklyn, James McBride knew his mother was different. But whenever he asked her about it, his mother would simply reply, "I'm just a little lighter-skinned." Later, he began to doubt if he, too, was an outsider like his mother, constantly pestering her about whether he was white or Black. "You are a person," his mother's answer was firm, "Learn more, or you'll be nothing!" When James asked what color God was, she said, "God's skin is the color of water."
As he grew older, McBride finally convinced his mother to tell her own story—a Jewish rabbi's daughter born in Poland, raised in the South, who moved to Harlem (a Black neighborhood in New York City), married a local Black man, founded a Baptist church, raised twelve children, and sent them all to college for higher education. The Color of Water is James McBride's masterpiece, dedicated to his great, quiet, and fiercely independent mother—it is also an enduring work written in passionate prose that explores the true meaning and essence of family.
The tone of the work is noble, and the emotions are sincere, filled with discussions of important and serious issues such as race, religion, and self-identity. However, these issues, though a significant part of their lives and stories, are not the core message the author wishes to convey. The success of this work—and of their lives—comes from the strength of their family and a mother's unyielding will, her unwavering commitment to two truly important things (school and church), a commitment that transcends race and religion. In the history of this family, her voice—her clear, unique, once stern and sarcastic voice—dominates. Two stories, the mother's and the son's, are interwoven with precision and beauty, shining in harmonious contrast. In this era of extreme racialization, they have composed a new chapter in the development of American culture.