My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. Ruth associates Judaism with her unhappy upbringing, and the discrimination she faced as a child in her small Southern town. When I asked if she was white, she'd say, "I'm light-skinned," and change the subject. I dont know where thats been done before, white and black marrying in Virginia. It was in my blood, you might say, and however the notion got there, it bothered me greatly. While as children religion is not useful for James and his siblings, the reader can see how Ruth is able to transcend questions of her own racial identity by committing herself to a community united by faith as opposed to skin color. $24.99 The Sheffers, Helen Weintraub, the Jaffes, they talked to me in person and by letter in a manner and tone that, in essence, said Dont forget us. The second is her need to keep moving so her traumatic past never catches up to her. Religion in The Color of Water provides the protagonists with a framework within which they are able to develop individual identities and organize their morals and values. Although this is not the universal Jewish experience, Ruths specific family and circumstances made Judaism unappealing for her. Validate reading with our Dynamic Quiz System. LitCharts Teacher Editions. As an adult, James learns that because his mother was Jewish, he is technically Jewish too. Theyd walk away from me if they saw me walking down the road coming toward them, and if they came into the store, they wouldnt even look at me. It took me fourteen years to unearth her remarkable story---the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, she married a black man in 1942---and she revealed it more as a favor to me than out of any desire to revisit her past. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth McBride Jordan Quotes 17 of the best book quotes from Ruth McBride Jordan 01 Share "I do remember my Jewish name: Ruchel Dwarja Zylska. God is the color of water. The way the content is organized, LitCharts makes it easy to find quotes by I found it odd and amazing when white people treated me that way, as if there were no barriers between us. He would listen to me. . Yeah she said. Similarly, Jamess investigations into Judaism allow him to understand his mothers past, and, by extension, his own family history. I would turn to leave, but when I wheeled around he was always there, waiting for me. Like any family we have problems, but we have always been close. Ruth tells James that his father Andrew McBride, a reverend, was a man with "vision". Church, and specifically the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church, which Ruth and Andrew Dennis McBride founded, keeps Ruth from falling apart and binds her family together through a shared religious community. While Ruth always envied her, later in life she realized that Dee-Dee had suffered sorrow and desperation. So I didnt have a lot of Jewish friends either. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Race and Racism Quotes in The Color of Water Below you will find the important quotes in The Color of Water related to the theme of Race and Racism. She had to die in order for me, the rest of me, to live. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. It was like the sun started shining on me for the first time, and for the first time in my life I began to smile. He could make a frog stand up straight and get happy with Jesus., My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. As I walked home, holding Mommys hand while she fumed, I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didnt want to be white. It hurt me a little bit to stand there and lie. Ruth explains her first ideal marriage to her son James. Sometimes it seemed like the truth was a bandy-legged soul who dashed from one side of the world to the other and I could never find him. And they looked nothing like the other heroes I saw, the guys in the movies, white men like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who beat the bad guys and in the end got the pretty girlwho, incidentally, was always white. That started to worry me a little but I didnt worry much. It doesnt have a color, she said. And good! One afternoon on the way home from church I asked her whether God was black or white. My view of the world is not merely that of a black man but that of a black man with something of a Jewish soul. Purchasing To this day I dont know. Chapter 1 Quotes Then after a while, my period was late. Thats what they called me. Active Themes One day, Ruth misses her mother and decides to call home. Ruth's chaotic household also reflects this need for motion. If Im here and youre me, how can you be there at the same time? Id ask. Sam Ruth's brother, he is two years older than Ruth. To the very end, Mommy is a flying compilation of competing interests and conflicts, a black woman in white skin, with black children and a white womans physical problem. Conversely, when I hear black leaders talking about Jewish slave owners I feel angry and disgusted, knowing that theyre inflaming people with lies and twisted history, as if all seven of the Jewish slave owners in the antebellum South, or however few there were, are responsible for the problems of African-Americans now. In fact, she didnt look like Richie, or Davidor any of her children for that matter. She couldnt stand racists of either color (Chpt. She had eight children with Dennis, who died while Ruth was pregnant with her son James. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely ,if even death separates you and me." 20% Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably slightly substandard. Theyd say forget it. Ruth describes her childhood as a poor Jewish immigrant in the United States. Nobody liked me. Circumstances are different; they make for different men. The Sheffers, Helen Weintraub, the Jaffes, they talked to me in person and by letter in a manner and tone that, in essence, said Dont forget us. If Im here and youre me, how can you be there at the same time? Id ask. Server responsed at: 05/02/2023 1:04 a.m. All texts are contributed by our excellent writers. Sometimes it seemed like the truth was a bandy-legged soul who dashed from one side of the world to the other and I could never find him. Those leaders are no better than their Jewish counterparts who spin statistics in marvelous ways to make African-Americans look like savages, criminals, drags on society, and animals (a word quite popular when used to describe blacks these days). I had an ache inside, a longing, but I didnt know where it came from or why I had it. Ironically, its a condition that affects mostly white people. Religious communities allow disparate people to come together, as Ruth discovers after her conversion, and as James discovers when he investigates Ruths Jewish past. My own humanity was awakened, rising up to greet me with a handshake as I watched the first glimmers of sunlight peek over the horizon. He was never hungry, he had his own bed probably, and his mother wasnt white. It was like the sun started shining on me for the first time, and for the first time in my life I began to smile. Quotes By James McBride. The hardships of having black kids in a racist era. I kept in touch with her for many years. Mommy kept us at a frantic living pace that left no time for the problem. I know what it feels like when people laughing at you walking down the street, or snicker when they hear you speaking Yiddish, or just look at you with hate in their eyes. They got no problems, and I said, Yeah, man, I hear you, while inside my pocket was the folded letter holding the heartbroken words of an old white lady who had always gone out of her way to help meand many others like me. Some of her children worked in the civil rights movement. He's not white. (Chpt. A deep sigh. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. -Graham S. Below you will find the important quotes in, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. It also serves as a way for them to relate to each other, their community, and the late Andrew McBride. Hes a spirit. Does he like black or white people better?He loves all people. See, a marriage needs love. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. | for a customized plan. Contact us Neither did I look like the role models in my lifemy stepfather, my godparents, other relativesall of whom were black. I hated him. 20% Jamess brother Richie, a college student home for the summer, is arrested because he has a lot of money in his pocket and the police assume that because he is black and carrying cash he must be a drug dealer. The ill-feelings of a family which was not acceptable at that time. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. My view of the world is not merely that of a black man but that of a black man with something of a Jewish soul. Rachel Shilsky is dead as far as Im concerned. No way. Ruth Mcbride Challenges. Jamess older siblings are invested in the Black Power Movement, many having their own private revolutions, some even going so far as to paint local statues in the red, green, and black of Black liberation. By a week. James' house is messy, a "combination three-ring circus and zoo," with pets rotating in and out. On open school nights, the question most often asked by my schoolteachers was: Is James adopted? which always prompted an outraged response from Mommy. We have survived her. Nobody liked me. It said a lot about this religionJudaismthat some of its followers, old southern crackers who talked with southern twangs and wore straw hats, seemed to believe that its covenants went beyond the color of ones skin. Sometimes you just need to believe in yourself. Her children became doctors, professors, chemists, teachers---yet none of us even knew her maiden name until we were grown. Want 100 or more? As I walked home, holding Mommys hand while she fumed, I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. For Ruth and James (in his adulthood), their Christian faith is a guiding light in their lives. I counted it. Get on out! but hed never leave. "I never understood why God would climb into these people with such fervor, until I became a grown man myself and came to understand the nature and power of God's many blessings, but even as a boy I knew God was all-powerful because of Mommy's utter deference to Him, and also because she would occasionally do something in church that I never saw Hurry up! I dont belong to any of those groups. As children, James and his siblings believe that if Jesus is truly all colors, he should be painted that way. Thats how I felt as a child. Instead I was stuck at that white school, P.S. There was something inside me, an ache I had, like a constant itch that got bigger and bigger as I grew, that told me. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Ruth McBride happens to be an American Jewish woman born in the 1920's who encounters . Rachel, or Ruth as she calls herself, fled her Jewish family when she was eighteen to marry a black man, Andrew McBride. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. I went through this entire ordeal and here he was getting busy with somebody else. I stayed on the black side because that was the only place I could stay. Id lock myself in the bathroom and spend long hours playing with him. The Color of Water: Top Ten Quotes "You want me to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years" (Chpt. The boy in the mirror, he didnt seem to have an ache. Sometimes we think if we could just go back in time we would be happy. Tateh answers and tells her Mameh is sick and he needs help with the store. Thus, James was not able to pry out her Jewish history from her until she was an old woman. By a week. 25, p. 277). Hes a spirit. Does he like black or white people better?He loves all people. She disliked people with money yet was in constant need of it. I knew that! They were all trying hard to be American, you know, not knowing what to keep and what to leave behind., See, a marriage needs love. Hed shrug and smile. | I didnt want to be white. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! She was always sending me off on a bus someplace, to elementary school, to camp, to relatives in Kentucky, to college. 17 of the best book quotes from Ruth McBride Jordan, I do remember my Jewish name: Ruchel Dwarja Zylska. Make faces at him and order him around. It hurt me a little bit to stand there and lie. And a little money. Later, their local preacher Rev. The few problems I had with black folks were nothing compared to the grief white folks dished out. An Incredible Outcome In the book The Color of Water by James McBride son shares the troubles he had to go through while he was growing up as he also, shares his shares his mother's obstacles and triumphs. There but for the grace of God goes my own motherand by extension, myself. She disliked people with money yet was in constant need of it. She drove her fathers 1936 Ford back in Suffolk, Virginia. Why she did so was not clear, but even my teachers seemed to know she was white and I wasnt. creating and saving your own notes as you read. There was no turning back after my mother died. Hes a spirit.Whats a spirit? A spirits a spirit. What color is Gods spirit?It doesnt have a color, she said. As I stepped on the bus she squeezed a bunch of bills and change into my hand. I stayed on the black side because that was the only place I could stay. Struggling with distance learning? Struggling with distance learning? Mommy was by her own definition, light-skinned, a statement which I had initially accepted as fact but at some point later decided was not true.. 10, p. 104)James explains what it was like as a mixed race child. . I myself had no idea who I was. I dont know where thats been done before, white and black marrying in Virginia. Gone. Even though she slammed the door in my face years later, I never felt bitter toward her. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. This affects the opportunities, self-esteem, and even human rights of the central black characters, but also affects characters like Ruth, who is white but lives in close proximity to blackness, and as a result must deal with bigotry from those who do not understand why a white woman would marry a black man and raise a mixed-race family. He left them no money but a home filled with love and vision. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. That was a big thing in the South. Continue to start your free trial. Hes a spirit.Whats a spirit? A spirits a spirit. What color is Gods spirit?It doesnt have a color, she said. And I wanted to tell folks that, I wanted to shout out, Hey yall, it really doesnt matter! I actually believed folks would accept that, that theyd see what a good person he was and maybe accept us, and I went through a few days of thinking this, after which I told him one night, Lets run off to the country and get married, and he said, No way. That's all., But at the end of the day, there are some questions that have no answers, and then one answer that has no question: love rules the game. Whatevers wrong well fix. Jame was in confusion between the environment he grew up in and knowing that his mother was white. In a world where everyones playing, love trumps us all. On Jan. 9, her son said, she died at her home in Ewing, N.J., at the age of 88. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. However, when James hears first-hand accounts of his mother's trials and successes, he realized that what he had regarded as eccentricity was in fact the manifestation of a determined woman's adaptation to her world, her own personal negotiation of past and present. Refine any search. Free trial is available to new customers only. She couldnt stand racists of either color and had great distaste for bourgeois blacks who sought to emulate rich whites by putting on airs and doing silly things like covering their couches with plastic and holding teacups with their pinkies out. What fools! shed hiss. She is reborn through Christianity, and finds that this religion provides her with everything shes always wanted: love and community, a sense of belonging, and a reason to live. Id lock myself in the bathroom and spend long hours playing with him. God is the color of water. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably slightly substandard. He made no separation between the McBride and the Jordan children, and my siblings and I never thought of or referred to each other as half brothers and half sisters, Mommy, after all, did not really look like me. Anyone who has ever revisited the place of his birth after years of absence is shocked by the differences between the way the place actually is, and the way he has remembered it. A spirits a spirit. She sighs and then states that the times are different. Are you crazy? He has gone onto a new and different life, and in thinking longingly of the past, he has been giving thought and interest to something that no longer really exists., My parents were nonmaterialistic. She had fewer conflicts with her father than Ruth did, and she was more Americanized from a young age. Dee-Dee was a shy, pretty girl, less strong-willed than Ruth. Create a book wishlist and and share it with family and friends. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. She replied "You are a human being. Jungle fever they call it, flapping their jaws and making the whole thing sound stupid. Oh boyGods not black. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. In running from her past, Mommy has created her own nation, a rainbow coalition . She opened the door for me but closed it for herself long ago, and for her to crack it open and peek inside was like eating fire. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. It sounded like Helen. Nobody liked me. Record what books your kids are reading. She embraced Christianity because she discovered it on her own. To further escape from painful reality, I created an imaginary world for myself. This is clearest in Ruths conversation from Judaism to Christianity, a change with represents not just a crisis of faith, but a complete reinvention of herself. Sometimes it can end up there. So I didnt have a lot of Jewish friends either. The few problems I had with black folks were nothing compared to the grief white folks dished out. Mommy, after all, did not really look like me. She raised twelve black children and sent us all to college and in most cases graduate school. You werent accepted to be with a black man and that was that., One afternoon on the way home from church I asked her whether God was black or white. A nigger and you? By this the reader learns about both Ruth's and James' life as well as the progression of the United States. Ruth's inconsistencies, quirks, and life philosophies are a bit of a mystery before James understands her history. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% A large black eye peered out. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? I told him I didnt want to see him anymore and walked back through the black neighborhood, into the store, and went upstairs and cried my heart out, because I still loved him. Wed love to have you back! Religion can offer both comfort and anguish. SparkNotes PLUS I had no tears to shed. As a Jew, Ruth found herself excluded from the white world of the South, and felt she could partially identify with the hardships of her black neighbors. Via James's quest for his mother's heritage as a struggling biracial kid, McBride portrays the strength of Ruth who endures social and economic hardships raising . Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs It is our greatest weapon, a natural force, created by God. There were white sections of Suffolk, like the Riverview section, where Jews werent allowed to own property. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers . Novelguide.com is continually in the process of adding more books to the website each week. James McBride asks her mother why she cries in Church, and her response is that God makes her happy. White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. Different opinions between generations always exist. Who is it? someone asked. He was free. It said a lot about this religionJudaismthat some of its followers, old southern crackers who talked with southern twangs and wore straw hats, seemed to believe that its covenants went beyond the color of ones skin. It was like the sun started shining on me for the first time, and for the first time in my life I began to smile. The books title references a central thematic question of the work: what color are the McBride-Jordan children, what color is a spirit, and what color is God? Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family that immigrated to the United States when she was two. They didnt have to run for their lives like we did. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Ruth McBride" James McBride, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 6 likes Like "The man was the finest preacher. (one code per order). Id shout at him, abuse him verbally. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). No way. Continue to start your free trial. And the greatest sin a person can do is to take away that life. They will surely hang me., I know youre gonna marry a shvartse. Its what made the river flow, the ocean swell, and the tide rise, but it was a silent power, intractable, indomitable, indisputable, and thus completely ignorable. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or comments or would like any additional information. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Her oddness, her complete nonawareness of what the world thought of her, a nonchalance in the face of what I perceived to be imminent danger from blacks and whites who disliked her for being a white person in a black world. Whats a spirit? She became increasingly involved with local churches, and eventually opened her own church with her husband. The image of her riding that bicycle typified her whole existence to me. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Hes a spirit. Does he like black or white people better?He loves all people. I knew that! Teachers and parents! Ruths Christian principles keep her moving forwards, even in the face of tragedy. She was gone. Ruth loved him passionately: " [M]y whole life changed after I fell in love. There was no turning back after my mother died. The question of race was like the power of the moon in my house. Sometimes it can end up there. It said that on the deeds and you can look them up. There were white sections of Suffolk, like the Riverview section, where Jews werent allowed to own property. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. For Ruth, Judaism was oppressive and loveless, whereas Christianity gave her access to community, freedom, and divine love for the first time. Helen was far beyond that. Ruth found Judaism to have too many rules to follow, too many forbiddens and you cants and you mustnts, without enough love. Next to that, all the rules and religions in the world are secondary; mere words and beliefs that people choose to believe and kill and hate by. I loved my mother yet looked nothing like her. Youre making a mistake. That stopped me cold, because I didnt know how he learned it. There but for the grace of God goes my own motherand by extension, myself. The Jews in Suffolk did stick together, but even among Jews my family was low because we dealt with shvartses. She put him in nearly the same category as her other civil rights heroes, Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedysany Kennedy. Hes a spirit. She catches all of her important moments with a camera, waddling down Brooklyns Atlantic Avenue from the A train to Long Island College Hospital to take pictures of my daughter Azures first days of life; standing my toddler son, Jordan, up against a tree in her yard so she can snap a quick picture of him in his Easter outfit. We talk about other times, other places, other persons, and lose our living hold on the present. Ruths grief at the death of those closest to herher mother, her first husband, Andrew (Dennis), and her second husband, Hunter, almost unhinges her so she cannot function, but she always manages to get up again and carry on. Oh boyGods not black. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Water doesn't have a color., I asked her if I was black or white. Discount, Discount Code He says here that his own life is inextricably bound up with his mother's; when he rethinks her life, he necessarily rethinks his own. Tools to track, assess, and motivate classroom reading. Ruth McBride-Jordan Quotes in The Color of Water The The Color of Water quotes below are all either spoken by Ruth McBride-Jordan or refer to Ruth McBride-Jordan . I would have preferred that Mommy were black. Not only did she drive it, she drove it well enough to pull a trailer behind it full of wholesale supplies for her familys grocery store. I told him I didnt want to see him anymore and walked back through the black neighborhood, into the store, and went upstairs and cried my heart out, because I still loved him. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. We were all clearly black, of various shades of brown, some light brown, some medium brown, some very light-skinned, and all of us had curly hair. The first is Ruth's apparent obliviousness to racesomething that causes James so much psychic distress throughout his youth and much of his adulthood. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I belong to the world of one God, one people. Why she did so was not clear, but even my teachers seemed to know she was white and I wasnt. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. 25 Thoughtful Quotes from the Book - The Color of Water. Mommys contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island.