James McBride
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Study Guide
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother Study Guide." Course Hero. 1 May 2020. Web. 2 June 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Color-of-Water-A-Black-Mans-Tribute-to-His-White-Mother/>.
In text
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Bibliography
Course Hero. (2020, May 1). The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved June 2, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Color-of-Water-A-Black-Mans-Tribute-to-His-White-Mother/
In text
(Course Hero, 2020)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother Study Guide." May 1, 2020. Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Color-of-Water-A-Black-Mans-Tribute-to-His-White-Mother/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother Study Guide," May 1, 2020, accessed June 2, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Color-of-Water-A-Black-Mans-Tribute-to-His-White-Mother/.
James McBride
1996
Nonfiction
Biography, Memoir
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother chronicles both James McBride's life growing up with his mother, Ruth, and Ruth's life as told in a series of interviews. Both James and Ruth serve as narrators in alternating chapters for most of the book, and their perspectives are first-person recollections.
The book is written principally in the past tense. The exceptions are lapses into the present tense when the narrator, James or Ruth, speaks about present opinions or situations at the time the book is being written.
The Color of Water is a reference to a conversation James has with his mother, Ruth, about racial identity and God. Ruth is white, and James is biracial, as are her 11 other children. Ruth tells her son that God is no color, that he is the color of water and therefore has nothing whatsoever to do with race.
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