Color of Water
FromColor of Water
By:James McBride
The color of water is James McBride's tribute to his remarkable,eccentric,determine mother Hudis Shilsky,his mother was the daugher of an orthodox Jewish rabbi, who was born in Poland in the town of Debryzan, but escaped before hitler got through and those who were left were wiped in the holocaust.Her name given to her when she was born was the jewish name Ruchel Dwajra Zylska,but when she came to america she got rid of it and changed it to Rachel Debroah Shilsky,but then again she got rid of that because in order for her to live the old her had to die.
When she married a black man in 1942 her parents mourned her as they do to the dead in the jewish religion.She didn't really care much about her religion because they were too many rules to follow and too many forbiddens.James McBride father Andrew McBride,a bapist minister always made sure his kids were well educated and went to church regularly but his mother raised themaccording to her own experience of orthodox jewish,she represented the best and worst of immigrant mentality which was hard work, no nonsense,quest for excellence,distrust ofauthority figures and deep beliefs in god.His parents were nonmaterialized they believed money without knowledge is worthless.Because education tempered with relgion was the way to climb out of died,his mother remained to Hunter Jordan who had the same beliefs as his father.
There were twelve childen in the family and their mother did her best to tend to each one of them,James McBride was the youngest,the years went by and his stepfather died and his mother was left with the responsibility of raising twelve children all by herself,they often had to wear each clothes or it was passed down from the oldest to the youngest as they grew.She loved to ride her blue bicycle to and fro everyday and being white and living in a black neighbourhood she often was stared at.She felt white folks were implicicity evil toward blacks,she did not believe in racism.They lived in the Red Hook Housing projects in Brooklyn,james mother preferred to be among the poor,the working calss and did not believe in welfare despite their needs.Being white in a time of the fight for civil rights,james's mother often had to deal with critism of blacks and other whithe people because her children were blacks and she was white,but was proud to be who she were and of her children no matter what other people thought.Her trust in god kept her going through allof life's battles.
James McBride loved his mother very much and always worried about her safety because she was white and living in a society of racism,he feared for the worst,but yet he respected her for her hard work and dedication to the family.As a boy he always knew his mother was different from all the other mothers because she never believed in hate and stood up for what she believed in and always try to give her childern whatever she could afford and all the education they could take.But lateron james wondered if he was different too and asked his mother if he was black or white,she told him he a human being,and when james then asked what color god was she said "God is the color of water"...(pg51).
"An extraordinary writer and musician James McBride plays our notions of race,family,history,and religion like a literary saxophone,his mother Ruth voice providing a funny,funky,in-your-face melody,full laughter,insight,pain,understaning,and great love.The color of water tracends race and touches the spirt."
Jill Nelson,Author of Volunteer Slavery
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