Racism In The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

Register to read the introduction… James McBride, who was the writer The Color of Water, is a great example on the hardships of racism. McBride tells us of how he and his mother were faced with struggles and still prospered though because It does not matter if he is considered Jewish or Christian; It does not matter if he is considered black or white, all that matters is that you must advance. …show more content…
He begins with memories about his father's death, about the lack of space in their house, about the hobbies his mother took up after his father's death and about how he was embarrassed by his Jewish mother. On one side he is profoundly in touch with his black side and on the other he despises it. For example, he is teased by the white, and is sent to a Jewish school. He switches between the two sides frequently. When his father dies, he pushes his family away and lives with his step sister and sees the real black life through encounters with the Chicken Man and others. On the other hand, he also traces out his white Jewish roots through his mother. He understands his mother's struggles and identifies with them. He begin to realize that she controlled her life, not her religion or her race and as he reaches this realization through his struggles as a black son of a white mother, as a Christian son of a Jewish mother, he understands that it doesn’t matter. He is what he makes of himself: the color of water. His best friend is a Jew and he becomes the best man at his wedding and McBride's mother attends his wedding and fully participates in it. These events marks the climax of all the struggles, religious and ethnicity, of the McBride family; the son's life rising from confusion and