On The

Bookshelf

SAND EE BRAWARS KY
Special to The Jewish News

hen he was a child, James
McBride asked his mother
whether God was white or
black. She replied: "God's
not black. He's not white. God is the
color of water."
Neither knew then that her sponta-
neous comment would become the title
of a book that would profoundly impact
both of their lives.
Last week, McBride's memoir The
Color ofWater: A Black Man's Tribute to
His White Mother (Riverhead; $22.95
hardcover, $12 paperback) hit the one-
year mark on the paperback best-
seller list of the New York Times.
More than 700,000 copies are in
print.
The book's subtitle doesn't con-
vey the complexity of McBride's
story. His mother, born in Poland,
grew up in Suffolk, Va., as Rachel
Deborah Shilsky, the daughter of a
sexually abusive Orthodox rabbi
and a loving mother suffering from
polio who couldn't stand up to her
husband's cruelty. At age 20, she
left Virginia for New York City:
Rachel Deborah Shilsky became Ruth
McBride Jordan.
Always, she carried tremendous
guilt for abandoning her mother and sis-
ter. She found more kindness than she
had ever known with a black man; she
converted to Christianity and married
him, causing her family to sit shiva.
In near poverty, widowed twice, she
raised 12 children. Among her accom-
plishments is the fact that all of her sons
and daughters are college graduates, and
several have advanced degrees. At age
65, she received a degree in social work
from Temple University.
While her children were growing up,
Ruth refused to discuss her past or to
acknowledge that she was white.
McBride and his siblings knew she
spoke Yiddish but weren't aware of her
Jewish family. It was in researching this
book, which took him 10 years to write,
that the author learned the truth of his
mother's past.
The book is told in two voices, that
of mother and son, both written by

W

"The Color of
Water" celebrates
a year on the
paperback
best-seller list.

3/6
1998

108

McBride, a former staff writer for the
Boston Globe, Washington Post and People
magazine who is also a professional saxo-
phonist.
It's the mother's story that's most
compelling, and to her son's credit that
he tells it so well.
In the two years since the book was
published (the hardcover edition was
released in early 1996), McBride has
spoken about the book in synagogues,
Baptist churches, white churches, Jewish
community centers and in living rooms
across America.
In a recent interview last week at
Stern College in New York City, where
he was a guest teacher in a contempo-
rary American literature course, he said
that more than 2/3 of his talks have
been in Jewish settings, and that the
early response to the book was mainly
from Jewish readers — mostly women
who "related to elements of Mommy's
James McBride:
Reconnecting
with his Jewish
family.

didn't know of. He recently had lunch
with a newly discovered Jewish cousin,
who is the granddaughter of the aunt
who slammed the door in his mother's
face when she approached the family for
help after her first husband died.
"It shows how far we've come as a
family," says McBride.
The author, who lives in South
Nyack, N.Y., with his wife and two chil-
dren, seems at peace with his identity as
a Christian. "It's important to give kids a
sense of religion," he says, explaining
that he and his wife are raising their kids
as Christians. He plans to explain the
family history when they're older.
"I would applaud if they decided to
become Jewish. As long as they have
God in their lives, I don't care what
principles they chose to worship Him
by."
McBride is now writing Quincy
Jones' biography and also working on a
novel about a group of
black soldiers in World
War II. Although he is
not involved in the
film version of The
Color ofWater —
The
which is in the works
— he says he has seen
Color
the script and has
some objections.
Laughing, he says
Ra:MM4ffer
,faifflitMls
that he has received
letters from philoso-
phers commenting on
the meaning of the
book's title. "It was
something [my moth-
W i t
er] just made up," he
o t
r
life."
says.
More recent-
McBride recently
ly, he says, there
opened Yeshiva
has been a
University's "Author in
: iv:: • t
•
"surge in inter-
Residence" program,
est" from black
now in its second year,
readers.
by giving a public reading attended by
When asked about his repeated refer-
more than 400 people. In addition, he c'
ences in conversation to his mother as
taught at both Stern and Yeshiva
"Mommy," he says, "I look at her the
College.
same way I did as a kid. She still has
In an afternoon class with 15 Stern
power." Now, he adds, he understands
students, McBride seemed to encounter
her.
the spirit of the tradition that animated
McBride says that the book — which
his mother's emphasis on education.
she was initially reluctant to cooperate
Reached by telephone after class,
on — has helped his mother "to accept
Professor Joanne Jacobson had just
her past."
finished reading the students' papers
About nine months ago, Ruth was
on The Color ofWater and noted that
reunited with the sister she left behind
the students "really stretched them-
in Suffolk, in the presence of their chil-
selves." At first, she said, they were
dren. "It wasn't completely pleasant,"
"taken aback" by seeing a woman leave
McBride reports, "Her sister couldn't
Judaism and join a Christian commu-
forgive her for converting, but she was
nity, but they "also came to terms with
glad she was alive."
why that might be and gained a more
Through the book, McBride, now
complex understanding of our own
41, also has heard from relatives he
community."

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