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The Color of Water Genre and Historical Context
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Memoir Memoir: (noun) a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources. Word origin: French, meaning memory. As humans, our memories often reflect the complexities of human nature and contain multiple layers of meaning and significance of symbolic proportions.
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James McBride (1957-present)
The son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother The Color of Water is a unique memoir in which each chapter alternates between McBride’s own accounts of his childhood with his mother’s accounts of hers Author’s purpose for multiple narrators = capturing his biracial culture
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Bi-Racial Struggle for Identity
Bi-racial: concerning or containing members of two racial groups What are some struggles? What are some benefits? Above: James McBride with his mother Ruth At Right: Ruth McBride Jordan
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1960s-1970s Civil Rights Black Panther Party of Self-Defense – originally an armed citizens patrol to end police brutality Started in 1966, peaked in 1970, ended by 1980 Typically viewed as the defiant counterpart to sit-ins and strikes While Martin Luther King, a Christian, preached “civil disobedience” Malcolm X, a Muslim, claimed equality “by any means necessary” Malcolm X was equally intelligent and charismatic Bi-racial son of a African-American man and a woman with mixed ancestry from the Caribbean Established The Nation of Islam, a freedom fighting group
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Anti-Semitism A woman sits on a park bench marked “Only for Jews.” Austria, ca. March 1938. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Anti=against Semitic=a member or descendent of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs Anti-Semitic has come to mean against Jews Began over 2,000 years ago Early Christians blamed Jews for crucifying Jesus Religious hatred racial prejudice Anti-Semitism culminated in WWII when Hitler and the Nazi’s exploited social stigmas to commit genocide against Jews
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Anti-Semitism in America
Henry Ford blamed WWI on profiteering Jews and spoke openly against them The KKK persecuted Jews and other minorities in addition to African- American terrorism Many Americans believed that Jews controlled the banking system and were profiteers Jews suffered racial slurs, hate crimes, prejudice, and segregation America’s anti-Semitism was partly responsible for the nation’s hesitancy to join WWII Many Jews joined the African-American Civil Rights Movement but saw little return in aid
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Why study racism? Ignorance of a threat Empowerment of the threat
Social stigmas and ignorance enables leaders of genocide Confronting all forms of hatred is critical. Historical texts, fictional texts, and non-fiction texts develop understanding and compassion
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"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana: Life of Reason, 1905
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Anti-Semitism Today Currently, many in the Islamic world deny the Holocaust’s occurrence Former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Middle Eastern countries promote anti-Semitism in state-controlled media and educational systems Hamas, a Middle-Eastern militant group, uses genocidal language regarding Jews and the State of Israel. In Europe and America, Jews still face racial prejudice, stereotyping, and harassment
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