The color of water

Color of Water

Racism and discrimination have been two of the most important topics in history and especially in the history of the United States, given the fact that its culture resembles a human mixture of races, cultural backgrounds, and different personal histories. Racial prejudice is rooted in the annals of history particularly because it left a lot of scars on the personal identities of the families and the communities which suffered from this kind of behavior. It focuses on the clear differentiation between people in terms of race, which, nowadays, is considered illegal, but back in history, it was a state of fact. An important book on the issue of racial prejudice is "The color of water" by James Mc'Bride because it offers a personal perspective on the issue of race and community in inter-racial affairs.

The main character, even if the book should be an autobiography, is the mother of the writer, Ruth, who, through her experiences, shares a way of life in a racial and prejudice society. Despite the fact that James Mc Bride sometimes makes reference to his own experiences, the book may be seen as a teaching on how to deal with racial prejudice. Even so, the two characters chose to deal with racism differently. Still, the perspective of the two is important as it offers an insight on the hardships of the 60s, of the Harlem, of the immigrant community, of the Jewish community with its traditions, cultures, and own prejudice.

Ruth's experience is traced back to an abusive family, an over conservative background of Jewish immigrants who had suffered in their turn a lot of prejudices when arriving in the United States. From this abusive background, Ruth's behavior chances slowly to an acceptance of who she is and a limitation of her aspirations for respect and self-respect. Despite the hard times she experienced both as a young woman and as a mother, she always desired the best education for her children which can be interpreted as a way of dealing with the inferior status she believed she had. Education is an inspiration and a way of growing both as an individual and as a member of the community. In this sense, for her it was important that her children benefit from this opportunity and always made sure to focus on this. It was the way she dealt with society and with discrimination.

Racial discrimination affected her children as they were forced to live in a community which refused to accept them because they were a mix of races and religions. Ruth dealt with this aspect by encouraging her children to attend school and at the same time by offering a tender family environment. The loving family environment can be interpreted as her offering something she never had in her childhood and early adulthood, and, at the same time, as a way of ensuring, at least in the family environment, a prejudice free micro community, acceptant of racial and religious differences.

Opposite to Ruth, James' experience with racial and religious discrimination is somewhat different because the era changed. When James was in his early adulthood, the perspectives started to change and racial discrimination was viewed as an issue that must be changed. The difference in approaches can be related to the nature of the individuals, Ruth and James, but as well to the changing times. The nature of the two characters is different as a result of age and background. While Ruth experienced many of the possible evils to be experienced by a child, James was taken care of, even though the money shortage was obvious. Thus, the nature of the persons differs. Ruth is more submissive and more reluctant to address openly the issue of racial discrimination. At the same time however, her dedication for her children to learn and become good men may be interpreted as a hidden desire to address discrimination and to make people appreciate the nature and the quality of the individual rather than the skin color and the religious creed.