Customer Reviews

The Color of Love: A Mother's Choice in the Jim Crow South

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading this book was painful for me. Don't get me wrong- it's a wonderfully told story of love in spite of circumstance- but it hit VERY close to home. My interracial parents were married in the eastern part of NC in the same timeframe as this book and endured a lot of racism, including death threats when my mother became pregnant with me. To have to deal with alcoholism, family betrayal, racism and manage grow up without becoming insane is a testament to Gene Cheek's inner strength. I'd like to meet him someday.
As far as the book goes- I would highly recommend this to anyone, but especially to people who need to realize that love IS color-blind. You can't stop it, change it, or make it go away. Trying to destroy it because you don't like or understand it just tears everyone apart- epsecially the innocent- and leaves scars that never truly heal.

I recommend this book to anyone who has ever suffered due to circumstances beyond their control. This true story will reach into your heart and bring tears to your eyes. It is the heart-wrenching struggle of a young boy being forced to learn first hand the cruelty of alcoholism and prejudice. Gene relates his story with a frankness and sincerity so real that you almost hear his voice as you read. It is the story of the love-hate relationship that exists between an alcoholic father, his wife and son. At a time when his mother needs love and support, it comes from a forbidden source. Gene's life is changed forever because of the hate and prejudice that surrounds the relationship between his mother and a black man.



If you have never witnessed prejudice, this book will make it real. If you have never seen the destruction that alcoholism can bring to a family, you will feel the pain through the eyes of a young boy. You will "experience" Gene's desperation as he is forced to grow up at the tender age of 12 in the Jim Crow South!

I usually have a book that I am reading. Some are good but I will forget the name of the book after a while. I will remember this story always. One of the best books I have ever read. The story touched my heart.

I was priviledged to hear Mr. Cheek speak in Winston-Salem recently. His message was more meaningful because I had read the book several times. The story is moving and inspires us all to practice forgiveness and tolerance. The tone of the book, written from a 12 year old boy's perspective is sometimes humorous, and at all times honest. I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys nonfiction and has ever been hurt by racism or alcoholism.

I loved Gene Cheek's book so much, I gave it to my father as a Father's day gift. My dad, a huge literature fan and voracious reader, LOVED the book. Cheek's story will move anyone who has a heart - even if that heart is only the size of a peach pit. Anyone who finds fault with this story, is missing the big picture. This man is wonderful!

Like openmyeyes, I was first intoduced to this book while listening to "This American Life", and I too was deeply moved and had tears streaming down my face. This book is a must read, and I'm so glad that public radio has made it more known to people. I was somewhat disheartened to read the comments of Ms. Smith. In fact, openmyeyes never mentioned a "left wing", though I do think she was intending to draw attention to the harm that a "right wing" can do in a society. Classically, to be "on the right" means to be in favor of preserving the status quo and "the old ways". On the other hand, the ideologies of political parties, such as "Democrat" and "Republican", change with the times. The current administration in the US has oppointed its officials according to politcal compatabilty with itself. Whatever the color of their skin, it is irrelevant. Isn't Gene Cheek's story shining a light to show us that human qualities of love, character, courage and integrity in fact have no color? I am recommending this book to many, as I feel it is a gift to all of hhuman history.

I also was introduced to this wonderful book when I heard the author on NPR's This American Life. I sat in my car in a parking lot, hanging on to every word. When the soft, gentle voice of Gene Cheek had finished telling part of his amazing story, I sat there and wept. I ordered the book the minute I got home.

What a story! It is at once heartbreaking and inspirational. The author's life was dramatically impacted by racism and alcoholism, and he writes honestly about the residual effects. The fact that Gene Cheek could tell his story so eloquently and with such love and forgiveness is the real triumph. This is a truly amazing book! It will stay with you long after you've finished it. Highly recommended.

I bought this book to learn a little North Carolina history. It gave me so much more. By the time I finished reading the book the first time through, I felt like something deep in my own heart had gone through a profound healing. Gene Cheek writes eloquently and honestly about growing up in an alcoholic's home, losing his home life to racism, and living to tell the story. The book shows one young man transforming injured innocence into his own kind of wisdom.

All of the people in this book are unforgettable: his hard-working mother, Sally; that good grandmother; Mr. Tucker; Beth; Uncle Bill; Jesse; and even the ones who only get a line or two, like Mrs. Sealey. In the family picture of Sally, Tuck, Randy, and Greg, everyone looks so strong and loving. Gene isn't there, and his absence speaks eloquently to having been torn away to fend for himself too early, the result of outrageous injustice. The book also offers a wise child's view of domestic violence, a mother's love, racism, alcoholism, and abandonment.

I hope Gene will write a sequel. I simply wanted to know more about this courageous person. This book would make an excellent movie. The writing style puts me in mind of literary classics by Mark Twain and Harper Lee, no small feat for a memoir. It is a meaningful life story, well-written and heartfelt.

I am a native of Winston-Salem, NC where the accounts in this book took place. It was so exciting to ride through the neighborhoods where Gene and his family lived. Some of the houses are still standing; I think I saw the house he grew up in during one of my "history searches". I thought this book was enlightening, refreshing and a testament that not all people buy into "traditions" their family's try to hand down. There are many people like Gene's mother, grandmother and step-father who are more attentive to how you are as a human, than what color your skin is and I was fortunate enough to know them and become friends with many people who shared this mindset. I enjoyed reading the touching story of the love between a mother and son, and although I applaud his unselfishness and love of his brother, I can't help but think that he might have been a little less understanding in real life. But then again, I am only expressing how I would feel. The campus I work for (mentioned in the book as Winston Salem Teacher's College, now WSSU), is requiring all freshmen to read this book. I am happy that they are. It is, again, a wonderful, yet painful account and it is history that needs to be told.

I heard Gene Cheek's outstanding interview on NPR, which brought me to tears. Then I read the book and more tears came. Gene's amazing memory and drop dead dialogue brought me to my knees. This book takes an inside look at Jim Crow and makes us shake our heads at our racist past. Perhaps we will think that of our time 50 years from now!