The Quest For Individuality In Color Of Water By James Mcbride

The quest for individuality differs among everyone. James McBride is no exception. him, like many others, have a strong craving for self acceptance. His quest for individuality pushes him towards finding his own character. His unique personality helps him create a pathway towards the understanding of himself. In James McBride’s memoir, Color of Water, McBride focuses on his struggle of self acceptance. Him, like his other siblings, come from a biracial background. This prevents them, at first, from understanding who they really are. James McBride is constantly influenced by his surroundings, fueling his strong support for the civil rights movement, which helps him find a solid identity. James McBride gravitates toward his black side and supports civil rights partly because his mother’s influence. Ruth McBride clearly favors the black culture over the white culture. This is evident in her choice of social interactions. James is constantly influenced by his mother. At a young age, he resides with his black culture because he’s convinced they are superior. James states, “White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil towards blacks, yet forced us to go to white schools to get the best education” (McBride 29). Basically, Ruth is saying that …show more content…
James didn’t need a race to define his happiness. He needed the search for race. He supported civil rights because he wanted a true identity. In turn, James finds out race isn 't necessary in individuality. In the end, his mother and society helped him support the civil rights movement. That quest for support resulted in his finding of his identity. James sets a good example for people. He leads a path that others may struggle with. We can learn from him that race shouldn’t be a deciding factor of how you treat a person. James’ quest teaches us that we shouldn’t depend on race to identify ourselves, but rather let ourselves identify