Rainer 1

Macy Rainer
Professor Sartori
HONR1209
12 December 2014
The Color of Water Analysis
The struggles of identity conflict are a nearly universal theme in American society. Given

Americas nature as a nation of immigrants and a melting pot of culture, this is hardly surprising.

Though there are similarities, however, every story of an identity conflict is unique to the

individual and their circumstances. James McBrides The Color of Water reveals two drastically

different identity crises, separated only by a single generational gap, in his accounts of his own

life and his mothers.

McBrides mother, raised as Rachel, is a first generation American whose parents

brought her to Virginia from Poland. Rachels father, Tateh, is a rabbi, and is insistent that his

children are raised under Jewish law. Rachels father is abusive and cruel to Rachel and her

mother, and eventually Rachel runs away to New York City and becomes Ruth. In the process,

she abandons her Jewish identity and falls in love with a black man who will father some of her

children, include the author James McBride.

Jamess experience is quite different, as a devout Christian biracial man growing up in

New York in the 1960s. He is surrounded by siblings and parents who love him and is

encouraged to pursue his education. However, he also experiences discrimination for being black

and turns to crime and drugs for a period of his life. Ruth serves as the connection between two

wildly different worlds, and her story explores several important concepts about identity. It
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provides insight on what makes someone Jewish (and if that Jewish status can be changed), the

validity of race itself, and the connections between Jewish people and African-Americans.

One of the most interesting aspects of Ruths story is her transition from a Jewish girl to a

devout Christian woman, completely renouncing all aspects of her Jewish heritage. This

conversion calls into question the nature of Jewish identity and whether it is permanent or

flexible. Ruth is the daughter of two Jewish parents, one of whom is a Rabbi, and adheres

faithfully to Jewish law. Growing up in the south in the 1930s and 1940s is difficult for Ruth

because she is disliked for being Jewish by many of her classmates and the other citizens of

Suffolk, the town she lives in.

As an adult, Ruth does not feel an inherent sense of Jewishness within her. She feels that

she has completely absolved herself of Jewishness through her conversion to Christianity. Once

she has left Judaism, Ruth never wavers or reverts back to her former self, as the story The

Operated Jew would have one think1. This demonstrates that, at least for Ruth, Jewish identity is

not concrete. Her son James writes, Mommy was truly gone from their [Jewish] world

(McBride 284). She does not follow kosher, attend synagogue, or feel any connection to the

Jewish population.

In her youth, however, Ruth strongly identifies as Jewish. She practices alongside her

family and follows traditional customs such as kosher. Interestingly, being Jewish for Ruth seems

at the time almost instinctual or involuntary. One particularly telling moment in Ruths half of

the narrative occurs when she is about to graduate from high school with her best friend. Her

1 Oskar Panizzas satirical story tells of a Jewish man who underwent many surgeries to remove
his Jewish features, but was ultimately unsuccessful; the story implies that Jewishness is
something inherent that can never be renounced.
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father had forbidden Ruth from attending the ceremony because it was to be held in a Christian

church, but Ruth intended on disobeying her father. However, when the moment comes, Ruth

stays outside and misses the ceremony.

Its certainly debatable as to what caused Ruths reaction. It seems likely that Ruth responds this

way because of the influence her abusive and manipulative father has over her. Given the fact

that Rachels father has managed to control almost every aspect of her life, it would make sense

for Rachel, as an abuse victim, to feel inclined to obey her father even when she knew he was not

watching. Yet Rachel (now Ruth) suggests another explanation in her reflections on this moment.

She writes, I just couldnt go inside that church. In my heart I was still a Jew. I had done some

wrong this in my life, but I was still my parents child (McBride 158).

Ruths sentiments suggest that, at the time, she had at least partially internalized the

concept of Jewish blood, the idea that being Jewish is an identity conferred at birth that cannot

be overcome. This idea has been pushed by both anti-Semites and Jewish people themselves at

different points in history. Spanish-Jewish converts to Christianity were demonized because the

impurity of their blood made them incapable of experiencing a true conversion (Fredrickson

31). The racializing of Jewishness was put to its most malicious use under Nazi Germany, which

portrayed Jews in propaganda as an inferior other worthy of extermination to gain support for

their abominable treatment of Jewish people (Antisemitic Myths).

Yet, the same idea has been applied in a much more positive manner as well. As a group

victimized and oppressed throughout history, many Jews have over the years found solace in

identifying with other Jewish people as a separate community (Goldstein 19), especially as they

became more integrated and less distinct from the societies in which they lived. Interestingly, in
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her vague allusions to Jewishness as a differentiating factor, Rachel does not seem to imply any

of these positive associations. Unfortunately, Rachels background did not include the tight-knit

Jewish community or strong Jewish role-models that many others had. She had no one outside of

her immediate family to empathize with her struggles in predominately-Christian Suffolk,

Virginia.

Rachels most significant Jewish influence is her father. Tateh is clearly a terrible model

for a husband and a father, and his despicable behaviors would eventually drive Rachel away

from Judaism as both a religion and a cultural identity. Tateh is driven by greed and overworks

his children and wife in the store he owns. Ruth admits that he molested her when she was a

child (McBride 42). He also espouses a deep loathing for black people and regularly cheats them

out of extra money when they shop in his store.

Rachel has many legitimate criticisms of her father, but one of the most fascinating as a

student of Jewish-studies is Rachels reaction to her fathers affair. Rachel describes Tatehs

mistress in very negative terms, such as fat and bigger and taller than him. Yet she also

remarks that this woman wasnt even Jewish. A goye and says It was all so disgusting I could

hardly stand it.

It can be inferred that Rachel would almost certainly have been repulsed by the idea of

her father carrying on an affair with anyone, even another Jewish woman. But the fact that Tateh

cheats on her beloved mother with a non-Jew seems to particularly offend Rachel. It is worth

noting that this story is told in retrospect, after Rachel has become Ruth and forgone her Jewish

identity. Still, it seems significant that Rachel is insulting this woman for not being Jewish. It

implies that there was something worse about Tateh being with a non-Jewish woman. At the time
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and as a practicing Jew, Rachel seems to have disagreed with intermarriage, or the union of Jews

and non-Jews.

This is consistent with the idea of Jewishness as a race. Many Jews who believed in this

concept also believed in the importance of abstaining from intermarriage, especially in the

United States when Rachel was reaching adolescence (the 1930s and 1940s). There was a general

fear of assimilation among Jewish-Americans as they slowly became more accepted in society.

They worried that intermarriage would lead to a breakdown of the Jewish community (Goldstein

208).

If Ruth did indeed believe these ideas about the supposed Jewish race, then her

conversion to Christianity becomes all the more interesting. As an adult, Ruth never gives a

specific reason as to why she abandoned Judaism, but the reader can make inferences. Again, her

strongest Jewish influence was her father. Tateh himself quits Judaism after beginning his affair

with the goye2. Ruth writes that her father was done with being religious and did not even

follow through with the Jewish divorce customs, opting instead to divorce his ill wife from

Nevada (McBride 199). Perhaps her fathers behavior causes Ruth to believe that Jewishness is

not as permanent as she was raised to believe.

Ruth does have one positive Jewish influence in her life: her mother. Ruth describes her

mother as a perfect Jewish wife, yet Tateh is as abusive to her as he is to Ruth. Ruth writes, She

kept the religious traditions of a Jewish housewife and was loyal to her husband, but Tateh had

absolutely no love for her His marriage was a business deal for him (McBride 41). It could be

that Ruth saw that all of her mothers efforts to follow Jewish morals and traditions were

2 Yiddish for a non-Jewish person

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completely unappreciated, and decided that it would be worthless to try to emulate her mothers

path.

Furthermore, Ruths father stands between her and non-Jewish people that she cares

about. First, there is Ruths childhood friend Frances. In her recollections, Ruth describes a sense

of peace and welcoming with Frances and her family that she never felt in her own home. Yet

Ruths father forbids her from spending time with Frances because she is a gentile (McBride

81).

Eventually, Ruth falls in love for the first time with a young black customer from her

fathers store. Ruth is forced to hide her relationship from her father (as well as the rest of the

white population of Suffolk). She finds in her boyfriend Peter what that she had been craving her

entire life: acceptance. Ruth writes that Peter didnt care that I was Jewish. He never judged

me. Thats the first thing I liked about him, in fact thats what I liked about black folks all my

life. They never judged me (McBride 113). All of Ruths future relationships would be with

black men, including her future husbands. When Tateh finds out about Ruths engagement to the

man who would become her first husband, he tells her not to marry a shvartse3 and warns that

if she does, she will not be welcome in her childhood home anymore.

This is probably the final catalyst for Ruths disassociation with Judaism. Her Jewish

father was extremely cruel to Ruth, and he drove her away from the people who treated her with

kindness. It is also significant that both Frances and Ruths first husband, Dennis, were

practicing Christians. Even if Ruth viewed Jewishness as a part of her inherent identity when she

was young, as an adult she clearly refocuses her self-image to accommodate the positive

3 Yiddish slang for a black person, according to dictionary.com

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influences in her life. For Ruth, Judaism represents her abusive childhood while Christianity

symbolizes the new life that she is able to lead on her own terms.

Ruths connection to the African-American community is another significant theme of the

novel, as it forges the bond between the lives of small-town southern Jewish woman and a

biracial boy from New York City. Interracial marriages were very dangerous at the time. Ruth

writes that a group of white men tried to kill Dennis after becoming enraged seeing the pair

together (McBride 232). They were also extremely rare; one source suggests they comprised

only .14% of marriages in 1950 (Gullickson 295).4

There are plenty of possibilities concerning why Ruth was willing to risk so much to be

with black men. There is the classic clich that young women seek men who defy their fathers

expectations, especially when they have poor relationships with their father. Yet Ruths decades

as the devoted wife to two black men clearly prove this was not merely a phase or act of

rebellion.

Again, Ruths own explanation (and therefore likely the most relevant one) is that she felt

accepted by the black community in a way that she never was by the white community. However,

Ruth never fully explains why this is. Truthfully, relations between Jewish-Americans and black

Americans have always been complicated, particularly in this period of United States history.

The two groups do seem as if they should be natural allies. Both have faced harrowing

oppression at the hands of the non-Jewish white majority. Yet it was difficult to forge a strong

union between the two. In the early 20th century in America, racial hierarchies still dominated

debates about race theory. Among whites, there was a general sense of superiority of the white

4 Taken from US Census information from the time.

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man over the black man. Jewish people were not so easy to define within the black-white

dichotomy, and many American Jews sought to differentiate themselves from the supposedly

lesser black population in order to gain full acceptance by the white majority (Goldstein 41).

Even if they were not completely embraced as white, Jews could still claim to be superior

to African-Americans. Ruth herself addresses this, writing, The thing was, I was supposed to be

white and number one too. That was a big thing in the South. Youre white, and even if youre a

Jew, since youre white youre better than a so-called colored (McBride 113). Ruth admits that

as a Jewish child in Suffolk, she was often mistreated and excluded (108). According to Ruths

reflections, the Jewish community of Suffolk saw the racism towards blacks as a way to raise

their status in the eyes of white people. Perhaps this is why Ruths relationships with black men

were so controversial within her family; they implied that there was equality between blacks and

Jews that some Jews had worked to deny. Even today, there is still significant tension

surrounding these types of unions; according to an article in the Atlantic, 19% of blacks and 38%

of Jews are opposed to a relative entering a black-Jewish marriage (Coates).

Of course there were plenty of Jews who opted instead to ally with blacks and strive for

mutual advancement. Jewish leaders were particularly sympathetic to the plight of African-

Americans during the turn of the 20th century, often comparing the experiences of blacks in the

South to those of Jews in Egypt. The now-prominent NAACP was founded by black men and

Jewish rabbis. Additionally, over 50% of white protestors against Jim Crow laws in Mississippi

in 1964 were Jewish (PBS), a sizeable proportion considering that at the time they constituted

only about 1% of the southern population (Sachar).

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Clearly there was, at least to some extent, a sense of comradery between the Jewish and

black populations. When the books author and Ruths son, James, returned to Virginia in the

1990s to explore his mothers heritage, he was received very differently than black men had been

during Ruths time. He writes, Like most of the Jews in Suffolk they treated me kindly, truly

warm and welcoming I found it odd and amazing when white people treated me that way, as if

there were no barriers between us (McBride 224). In this passage and throughout the book,

James makes it clear that he has faced discrimination by white people (even in the more

supposedly progressive North), yet in this southern Jewish community he finds total acceptance.

The book demonstrates that there is no single attitude of Jews towards blacks. Ruths

attitude towards race is unique from both her white father and black son; in fact, the most

important theme of the story may be that Ruth herself is an individual. Her beliefs, like

everyones, are molded by her experiences.

The unlikely weaving of the two very distinct stories in The Color of Water is possible

only because Ruth forged her own identity. Ultimately, her personal interpretation of her identity

is what comes to define her and her family. Ruth chose to renounce her Jewishness, and now

finds herself fulfilled as a Christian woman. She decided to defy the racism of her father, and

instead created a large, loving biracial family. Ruths success in disregarding societys views on

race proves that race itself is both man-made and fragile. More importantly, her story shows that

one will be happier ignoring them and living the life one wants to lead.
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Works Cited

"Black-Jewish Relations." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 2000. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "The End of the Black-Jewish Alliance!" The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly

Group, 2 June 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

Fredrickson, George M. "Religion and Invention of Racism." Racism: A Short History.

Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003. 17-47. Print.

Goldstein, Eric L. The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton:

Princeton UP, 2006. Print.

Gullickson, Aaron. "Black/White Interracial Marriage Trends, 1850-2000." Journal of Family

History (2006): 289-311. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.

McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. New York

City, New York: Penguin Group, 1996. Print.

A Portrait of Jewish Americans. Rep. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2013. Pew Forum.

Pew Research Center, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

Sachar, Howard M. "At Home in America." A History of Jews in America. New York City:

Vintage, 1992. N. pag. My Jewish Learning. MJL. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

Schweitzer, Frederick M. "Nazi Racial Culture: The Corruption of the Intellect." Antisemitic

Myths. Ed. Marvin Perry. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2008. 174-89. Print.