Many of us battle diversity everyday, yes battle diversity. How can you battle diversity, you ask? Every time a judgement is made on a count of skin color diversity is being battled against. Why do we, as a society, have theses social barriers that must be crossed every time someone of a different race, sex, or religion tries to interact with someone else. The Color of Water is a story of hope that throws away all barriers in a time when they were the strongest and hardest to cross. In an era when is was socially unacceptable for blacks and whites to interact, the McBride/Jordans manage to raise their family. By explaining Ruth's background, the time period James was raised in, the social barriers that Ruth and her family faced, and parallels to modern times, the reader shall see that The Color of Water is a timeless classic that many generations can learn from.
Ku Klux Klan members and a burning cross, Denver, ...
Cartoon from 1868 ("'Tis but a change of banners -...
Description: A Ku Klux Klan meeting in Gainesville...Ruth was born in Poland in 1921. She became a Jewish immigrant to the United States. Ruth's family moved around the country because her father tried to capitalize on his image of a rabbi. The family was not making enough money to survive that way and decided to live in Suffolk, Virginia where they opened a general store. The store was located in a mostly black part of town which was a problem for Tateh, Ruth's father, because he was a racist. Tateh even overcharged his black customers. Ruth, on the other hand, resented her fathers racist views and began to sympathize with the blacks in her neighborhood. Being a Jew, Ruth didn't seem to associate herself much to the white people in the south and found it easier to bond with her black neighbors. Ruth understood that the Ku Klux Klan promoted a violence atmosphere...