The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother - James McBride

This is a biography about the author's mother, Ruth McBride Jordan (born Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, raised Rachel Deborah Shilsky). She was born in Poland in 1921, and two years later her small family (father, mother, and younger sister) immigrated to the United States, settling in Virginia.

Her family was Jewish, and her father was sort of a Rabbi. He, however, was abusive to her as well as to her mother. She was white, and began dating an African American young man when she was a teenager. Through various difficulties, their relationship fell apart.

Over the years, her mother sent her away each summer to live with her mother's family in New York City. Only her grandmother really ever accepted her.

When she graduated from high school, she moved to New York City. A few years later her mother was admitted to a hospital in NYC, but Ruth was not allowed to visit because she was considered "dead" to the family who had already performed her Jewish death rites, by reciting the kaddish and sitting shiva for her.

During her time in NYC, she mete and fell in love with Dennis McBride, an African American man. They lived in a few very small apartments together, and had 8 children. During that time, Dennis also went to school and became a preacher, and they started their own church out of their home. They moved this church twice as it grew.

When Ruth was pregnant with their 8th child (the author of this book), Dennis died of lung cancer without a penny to his name. Ruth had lived the previous 15 years in African American neighborhoods with Dennis (who she insisted marry her when she converted to Christianity), and being accepted more than she ever was among her white peers. In fact, even before she met Dennis she hung out more in Harlem than anywhere else.

Awhile later she met another man, Mr. Jordan, who was older than her, and he asked to take her to a movie. She told him she liked to go to movies and so did her 8 children. He immediately stepped into their lives and cared for them as well as their biological father had. They had 4 more children together.

None of her 12 children knew anything about her past, but James became very interested when he realized she was white but he had never met any of his white family.

She would push aside his questions about her skin color and her past. Eventually, as an adult (and over many years) he pieced together her story and even brought her back to Virginia for the first time to see her only childhood friend.

Amazingly, Ruth's 12 children all graduated from college, many of them with graduate degrees. She always stressed the importance of Jesus Christ and school, which somehow helped every one of them find success.

The title of the book comes from a conversation James often had with his mother:

"When I asked her where she was from, she would say, 'God made me,' and change the subject. When I asked her if she was white, she'd say, 'No. I'm light-skinned,' and change the subject again."

Then he would ask her what color God is, and she would tell him, "The color of water."