Ruth McBride Jordan is the strongest figure in James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water. As a mother of twelve children, Ruth did all she could to ensure that her children grew up to be independent and self-sufficient individuals. Ruth's own family background greatly influenced the methods and attitudes with which she raised her multi-racial children. Ruth tried to teach her children the hard work ethic she learned from her parents, while rejecting her abusive and intolerant background. Because of the many hardships she was forced to endure during the course of her life, Ruth became a determined, exceptionally strong mother. She was tough but tender and loving with her children. She tried to ignore the issues of race that plagued her and her children throughout their lives. As a result, she sometimes created a chaotic environment for her many children, who grew up during the Civil Rights movement in America.

Ruth focused on a disciplined yet tolerant approach to parenting. She emphasized the importance of education and sent her children to the finest schools in spite of the logistics involved. Moreover, Ruth's children were told to work hard during their summer breaks, to teach them how to be as self-reliant as she was. Although Ruth applied the lessons she learned from her parents about hard work, she never resorted to the kind of coercion that her father used to influence her decisions. Similarly,...

Her children respected her, even when they rebelled. Although Ruth was an off-beat, quirky parent, she gave of herself entirely to her children; her whole life was devoted to loving them.
Hunter Jordan was Ruth McBride's second husband and the father of four of her children. From James's perspective, Hunter was not as strong as his mother but was nevertheless a solid, reliable parent. Hunter vowed to take care of Ruth and her eight other children, which he did. He was a good-natured man who held basically conservative family values and a desire to instill a sense of morality and ethics in his children. However, he left most of the discipline up to Ruth, who was by far the dominant parent. In fact, Hunter usually stood by whatever Ruth believed was the best course of action. Hunter had faith in Ruth's parenting abilities, and while he wasn't emotionally distant, he displayed a great degree of independence. Hunter, although he bought his family a house, lived in the city during the week.

James saw Hunter as his "daddy," since his biological father died while James was still in the womb. Hunter showed his deep love and respect for James when, on his death bed, he told James to take…