Sunday November 16, 2008

 

 

2

The Color of Water Essay

            Is racism still around to this day?  Racism and segregation has been around in the world especially in the United States for a long time.  Racism separates blacks and whites by who is inferior. I believe we should view each other as the same instead of white and black since we are all equal.  Did God create different colors of people to create a barrier or to increase our individuality?  In the novel The Color of Water written by James McBride, racism and its effects are shown to the extreme which are still present in today’s society.

            During the first half of the novel we are introduced to a woman named Ruth.  Ruth’s father is an American immigrant who came to the United States as a refugee from hiding from Nazis. Her father was a conservative Jewish rabbi in Poland.  Later on in her life Ruth fell in love with a black man and eventually married him.  Since she married Andrew Dennis McBride, her family abandoned her and even acted as if she had died because to them, marrying a black man, she was as good as dead.  Ruth’s first eight children out of the twelve were with Andrew Dennis McBride.  It is unfortunate to say that Andrew Dennis McBride passed away and never had a chance to meet James let alone be a father figure to him.  Ruth’s second husband fathered the last four and he did a good job of raising all twelve of the children treating them with the same respect.  He too died of a stroke after some time passed.

            Ruth was left to raise all twelve children on her own.  She didn’t have much time for all of them, but she did try her best to raise them right and she did.  In the neighborhood of Red Hook which is basically a black neighborhood Ruth children faced racism since they were mixed.  They did not know their place in the world and struggled with their identity.  The son James went to his mother Ruth for help.  Ruth knew what was going on and told James not to hate any race.  When she told her children that God was the color of water she wanted her children to know God is not any race and chooses no race over another.  She believed that we are all equal and he loves us all the same.  This helped pick up James self-esteem and understand who he was.

            In the world today racism and segregation is still around.  It may not be at the level it was once at in the past, but it still hangs around.  In my community of Mount Vernon racism is still more or less around and it is so strong even if no one wants to admit it.  Whites look at us as if we are beneath them and blacks do not really give whites a chance to prove them wrong.  The Hispanics usually stay to themselves while blacks are on the other side of them.  The only time when they really come together is when they are about to fight.  Usually when they fight it is because one group thinks the other group tried to insult their race.  It is also known that in my community white police officers always stop my friends and I because we are black.  They always want to bother us and search us as if we have something illegal going on or are lower than them. 

            In conclusion, forms of racism still exist to this very day.  Racism and segregation may never end.  The novel The Color of Water shows us how racism and segregation affects people, so why hasn’t racism ended to this day.  God didn’t intend for racism and segregation to be on earth.  He truly is the color of water, colorless and chooses no one over the other. He put us all on this planet to live in peace so why is it not that way?    

 

 

 

 

3

First Year Seminar

 

 

 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE “THE COLOR OF WATER”

            The book is about a man looking at his past and into his mother past so that he can understand the present and possibly see a little into the future. This man is an African American while his mother is Jewish, a rare sight during the 1960’s through the early 1990’s. Not only have that but his mother also birthed eleven other siblings filled with African Americans (James isn’t the oldest). All this was during the time of black power (the black panthers) and many other racially driven groups which presented problems for this diverse family. Everyday was an obstacle for Ruth (the mother) to walk down the street or even take her kids to school. But with her strength she pushes her children to get a college degree. She believes with a college degree they can have wealthy lives with social independence. Throughout Ruth life she was isolated from her family, religion, and social community. That was until she married her first husband (Dennis), because when he died the community in which they were living help her Ruth in providing food, money, and clothes for her and her family. That was one period in which she was not isolated from the out side environment even though in general she is still a very private person. Throughout all this they were still able to hold a strong belief of god and his belief system (which was Christianity). Two reasons that the title is significant to the book are the racial controversies and the obstacles that James and his mother had to go through.

            Racism is an issue that every African American had to face everyday in their lives. This problem had gotten bigger ever since the abolition of slavery.  It had a rollercoaster like affect in which had been sometimes gotten better and then worse or vise versa. During the time period of the author existence, the issue was not as bad for the African American people as it was for the Caucasian. This time grew the popularity of black power which was a political movement that wanted to define the world in their own terms (http://www.umich.edu/~eng499/concepts/power.html). This later on gave birth to the black panthers which was the most powerful political movement for social change in America since the Revolution of 1776 and the Civil War and was the greatest threat to internal security of the United States (http://www.blackpanther.org/legacynew.htm). James and his siblings were safe but their mother on the other hand was in grave danger everyday since these groups targets Caucasians as for examples of how serious they are to get what they want which was black dominance. Even though Ruth was Jewish, ever since she converted her beliefs to Christianity she is now Caucasian. This dilemma brought up in chapter 4: Black Power. In which the author shares his beliefs and fears of the black power. He says the group seems flashy and cool but what would they do to his mother if they ever see her? This fear was presented at the end of the chapter in which James sees a boy with a cool guy who seems to be the boy’s father, was left to get into the bus James then ask the boy about a handshake him and his father has done before the boy entered in the bus. The boy told James that his father got the handshake from the black panthers and there was his worst nightmare coming true. The guy who was a black panther was right next to James mother but they don’t seem to notice each other. James desperately try to worn his mother but he wasn’t successful. In retaliation James hit the boy due to the fear of what his father is could have done to his mother. Situations like this are some of the common obstacles Ruth, James, and James’ siblings had to go through everyday.

            A conflict is something common that every person in the world had to face at one point or everyday of their lives. In the lives of Ruth, James, and his brothers and sisters conflicts are a daily routine they had to go thru. One of the conflicts was presented in chapter 2: The Bicycle. After Ruth second husband dies she pick up a hobby of riding a very old bicycle. This produce a conflict to Ruth health due to the anger African Americans and the trouble making ones who had a problem with Ruth skin color. They would past her on Sting-Ray bikes and skateboards, popping wheelies and throw baseballs and firecrackers at her as said in lines 8-10 of page 8. There are also obviously many problems brewing between siblings within a small household. Twelve children and have them living peacefully and cooperatively with each other and the head of the household is task impossible to complete which was attempted by Ruth. In chapter 8: Brothters and Sisters exemplified this whole situation. Helen (one of James’ sisters) quit school believing that school was providing what she called “white man’s education.” Then later on Helen had a fight with a sister (Rosetta) and ran away from home. Ruth finds out that Helen was staying with her sister Jack and failed in trying to bring her back home. Then Helen runs away from Jack and Ruth finds out that she got a little room in an apartment. This time without talking Helen didn’t even wanted to look at her mother. These are struggles that would make any family have a hard time plus adding the conflicts presented in public made living a constant battle for survival.

            The Color of Water is a book that presents negative engagements that a Caucasian women and her African American son had to go through. These engagements consist of racial politics and roughed living conditions. Dealing with personal family conflicts and maintaining order within a huge family. As for me I went through similar situations of fearing the safety of a loved one due to racially driven groups and having an interracial family. I believe that the idea for the title came to the author when he was remembering a conversation of which he was younger when James asks Ruth what is the color of God. Ruth replied, “God is the color of water.” Then there came the idea that God is everything and everyone. That the world shouldn’t look at black, white, or any thing in between, that if God is the color of water then everyone should see themselves as the color of water and racial categorize themselves in a specific group. Through the book the author shows that if a Caucasian and a group of African Americans are able to exist together then the world could do the same.

                               

                     

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14                                                                                                                    (18)

Content: had good content

Correct: information was correct

Compelling: was interesting but strayed from discussing the meaning of the title

Consistency: strayed from topic

Complete: was complete

Creditable: information is credible from the book

Context /Customized: good writing style

 

2                                                                                                                      (17)

Content: had good content

Correct: Information was good

Compelling: interesting but strayed from topic

Consistency: strayed from topic

Complete: was completed

Creditable: information was credible from the book

Context /Customized: good writing style

 

3                                                                                                                      (21)                                                                                         

Content: good content

Correct: correct information

Compelling: interesting to read and stayed on topic

Consistency: stayed on topic

Complete: was completed

Creditable: information could be supported from the book

Context /Customized: good writing style