The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (10th Anniverary Edition) [Paperback]

James McBride (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2006

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Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her twelve black children. James McBride, journalist, musician, and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful debut, The Color Of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother.

The son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white, James McBride grew up in "orchestrated chaos" with his eleven siblings in the poor, all-black projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn. "Mommy," a fiercely protective woman with "dark eyes full of pep and fire," herded her brood to Manhattan's free cultural events, sent them off on buses to the best (and mainly Jewish) schools, demanded good grades, and commanded respect. As a young man, McBride saw his mother as a source of embarrassment, worry, and confusion—and reached thirty before he began to discover the truth about her early life and long-buried pain.

In The Color of Water, McBride retraces his mother's footsteps and, through her searing and spirited voice, recreates her remarkable story. The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi, she was born Rachel Shilsky (actually Ruchel Dwara Zylska) in Poland on April 1, 1921. Fleeing pogroms, her family emigrated to America and ultimately settled in Suffolk, Virginia, a small town where anti-Semitism and racial tensions ran high. With candor and immediacy, Ruth describes her parents' loveless marriage; her fragile, handicapped mother; her cruel, sexually-abusive father; and the rest of the family and life she abandoned.

At seventeen, after fleeing Virginia and settling in New York City, Ruth married a black minister and founded the all- black New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in her Red Hook living room. "God is the color of water," Ruth McBride taught her children, firmly convinced that life's blessings and life's values transcend race. Twice widowed, and continually confronting overwhelming adversity and racism, Ruth's determination, drive and discipline saw her dozen children through college—and most through graduate school. At age 65, she herself received a degree in social work from Temple University.

Interspersed throughout his mother's compelling narrative, McBride shares candid recollections of his own experiences as a mixed-race child of poverty, his flirtations with drugs and violence, and his eventual self- realization and professional success. The Color of Water touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James McBride is an accomplished musician and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Color of Water. His second book, Miracle at St. Anna, was optioned for film in 2007 by Black Butterfly Productions with noted American filmmaker Spike Lee directing and co-producing. McBride has written for the Washington Post, People, the Boston Globe, Essence, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. He is a graduate of Oberlin College. He was awarded a master’s in journalism from New York’s Columbia University at the age of twenty-two. McBride holds several honorary doctorates and is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. McBride lives in Pennsylvania and New York.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; 10th anniversary edition (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159448192X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594481925
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Parent & Adult Child
  • #14 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black

More About the Author

James McBride is the author of the award-winning New York Times bestseller, The Color of Water. A former reporter for The Washington Post and People magazine, McBride holds a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. from Oberlin College.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LOVING TRIBUTE TO MOM..., February 28, 2006

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (10th Anniverary Edition) (Paperback)

This book is, indeed, a tribute to the author's mother. In it, the author, a man whose mother was white and his father black, tells two stories: that of his mother and his own. Tautly written in spare, clear prose, it is a wonderful story of a bi-racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way.

The author's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who migrated to America at the age of two with her family during the early nineteen twenties. They ultimately settled down in Virginia, where she led an isolated and lonely life; shunned by whites because she was Jewish and shunned by blacks because she was white. She was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, where her father, a despicable and harsh man who brutalized his handicapped wife, ran a local grocery store, where he priced gouged his black clientele.

She left home and moved to New York when she was nineteen and never looked back. She met and married the author's father, a black man, when mixed race marriages were still frowned upon by both whites and blacks. Still, she always felt more comfortable around blacks than around whites. When he died sixteen years later, she married another black man who nurtured her eight children by the author's father and proceeded to give her four more children.

The author tells of his childhood, of his family, and of the issue of race that ultimately colored his life while growing up in predominantly black neighborhoods, where his mother stood out like a sore thumb because of the color of her skin. It was always an issue his mother avoided discussing with him, as for her it was not an issue. It was not until the author wrote this book that his mother discussed the issue of race within the context of her own life. From this dialogue emerges a fascinating look at the issues of race, as well as religion, and how it impacts on an individual's identity within our race conscious society.

It is also a very personal story. While the author's family was economically disadvantaged, his eccentric and independent mother always stressed education. She was a strict disciplinarian who brooked no nonsense from her twelve children. A convert to Christianity through her first husband, with whom she founded a Baptist church, she provided her children with the will to succeed. Consequently, all twelve eventually went to college and did her proud. The story of this unique family is told from two distinct, parallel perspectives: that of the author and that of his mother. While both are interesting, it is his mother's story that dominates this beautifully written book, which is, indeed, a tribute to her. It is truly a story told from the heart, as the love that the author has for his mother is evident with every written word.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shades of gray, January 24, 2008

By 

Karen Franklin "Forensic Psychologist" (El Cerrito, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (10th Anniverary Edition) (Paperback)

I feel almost silly adding another review when others have said so much already. So, I'll keep it brief. This is an extremely well written book. It flows seamlessly back and forth between time periods and generations until, before you know it, it's over. And, contrary to what some others have written, it is not obsessed with race. Race, as McBride presents his struggles, can be seen as a metaphor for exclusion. McBride's experience brings to life the consequences of the unfortunate human tendency to separate people into in-groups and out-groups, and to denigrate those who belong to any out-group. Most of all, this is a heartwarming story about the power of love to overcome trauma. I recommend it to everyone, and most especially to anyone who has ever felt that they didn't fit into someone else's dichotomous box.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, a touching story, February 17, 2010

By 

N. Chartouni (Chicago, Ill.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (10th Anniverary Edition) (Paperback)

This book is a true story by james Mcbride. He wrote this masterpiece as a tribute to everything his mother went through for him and his siblings. The racial problems they went through describe a story many have gone through before and shows a side of society that not many understand. I also beileve it shows a side of this country some would like to deny exists or acknowledge. As to the one star review i would like to point out that what you have stated is a false accusation as well as ignorant beyond belief. Your view point does not represent the message the book is trying to send which i believe is that though there may be obstacles in one's life, they can overcome them and make their situation better. Ruth did this for her children by making them get an education and teaching them about racial ignorance and how to overcome it. Your statement however is saying the only reason this book is applaued is it was written by a black man whos mother happened to reject and renounce her jewish faith and it offends you because of this. Further more you say that if it were a jewish man who wrote a story such as this it would be rejected and deemed outrageous. This however just shows how close minded people are when they think opoinions such as these. It shows the same intolerance and slander against one ethnic group. Statements such as that one is what brings hatred and anger into this world. The book however is nto this at all. It is more however showing the side of not only racial boundries shattering but the loving care a ffamily really gives. It shows how a mother has the greatest impact on a child and to them seem bullet proof and act in such a manner. When you really see the side so many hide, you see struggles and hardships many face but bury away for they have something greater to think about, they think about their children, familys, loved ones and close friends and making it better for them. As a final note I beileve you have to understand that the author tells the truth and cannot hide the reality of what really happened. His mother is also human and like many humans has flaws. Readers must get that this book shows the flaws as well as how strong and a great mother Ruth really was.