The Color of Water Class Blog Post

The Color of Water By: James McBride

Blog Post by Jackson T.

  I was assignd to read The Color of Water as part of our memoir unit in Honors English; The Color of Water is a memoir by James McBride about his life having grown up with eleven siblings and a white (formerly Jewish) mother.

  James' family before he was born was made up of his mother Ruth, his father Andrew (who was African American), and seven siblings. James was the last of Andrew's children because when Ruth was pregnant with James, Andrew passed away. James was born and raised in New York City in the 1960s, during the prime of the civil rights movement. Ruth did her best raising 8 kids until she met her second husband Hunter Jordan (also African American), who wen on to add four more children to the family.

  As James was growing up he experienced many ups and downs, He was discriminated, humilited, hungry, and detrimental. James had a severe behavior problem, in his teens he would steal from freight cars, do drugs, rob women, and assault others.

  

  After his freshman year of highschool, James practically dropped out, he would skip school and forge his report cards. But one day he had his siter write it so Ruth wouldn't recognize his handwriting, but she made out James to be a C student when he was previously faking A's. When his mother called him out he was "Bansihed" from the house for the summer and sent to live with his older sister in Kentucky.  Ruth viewed this as punishment, James saw it as freedom. When James arrived he quickly made friends with "The Chicken Man" and his gang "on the corner". The men gave James advice and helped keep out of trouble so he wouldn't end up dead like so many other street toughs. Days later the friendship ended when the Chicken Man was stabbed to death by his girlfriend.

James has so far had an interesting life and I hope to learn more as I read on.