Racial Segregations and Hope for More Equal Life in McBride's Autobiography, Color of Water

602 Words2 Pages

In showing the youth of his mother and her abusive father, McBride identifies the racism of the South in 1940s. With mentions of his past he highlights the racial segregations in order to portray a more equal way of life.

The racial segregation begins as he questions his identity wondering why his mom is white and he is black. When James goes to the bus to take him to summer camp and the kid shakes his father’s hand in a “hip” way and then says his dad is a Black Panther James yells for his mother then punches the other kid in the face (p. 36) which emphasizes his fear for his white mother’s safety due to his exposure of the Black Panther group being violent against whites. At the store McBride buys a carton of milk, which turns out to be sour, but the merchant won’t take it back due to racial tensions. This causes Ruth to get into a fight with the merchant and for James to continue to question society and racism. The relationship between Peter and Ruth (chapter BOYS) had to be held very secret because if anyone found out the white folks and her father would have disowned and beat R...

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