ItвЂ™s an encouraging way for readers, regardless of their racial background(s), to talk about the meaning of family, and seek avenues for them to find themselves.FIRST EDITION OF SHOW ME!, WITH 125 BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAVURES And IвЂ™m so glad that I read this book, because itвЂ™s pretty damn good.

I remember my mother, who identifies as biracial, recommending me to read this book, just as my grandfather, who identifies as white, recommended her to read it. James McBrideвЂ™s personal growth between chapters is a creative take on being able to finally talk about race in a constructive way. For him to take matters into his own hands to find that missing part of himself and to convince his mother to actually talk about what life was like for her is powerful indeed. He has an African American wife, and children who, to my knowledge from the book, identify as African American. He could have been someone the McBride-Turner clan could relate to and talk to about their experiences, but that obviously wasnвЂ™t the case.ДЄs an adult, McBride now identifies as mixed race and African American. McBrideвЂ™s stepfather, Hunter Jordan (who Jordan married after her first husband passed), is African American and Native American, but never discussed race in the house either. She didnвЂ™t want her children to experience the same struggles she faced growing up Jewish and marrying men of color.ДЄnd we should make it clear that the concept of colorblindness isnвЂ™t just a white perspective to have or to talk about. She tells them that she is вЂњlight skinnedвЂќ whenever she was asked why she looked different from them. Having to raise twelve children all at once in a low-income neighborhood, McBrideвЂ™s mother was trying to protect them when she tells them not to identify with either group. However, by not acknowledging a facet of a personвЂ™s identity such as their race, youвЂ™re still not able to see the person as a whole. As a mixed race individual myself, I understand that we shouldnвЂ™t immediately judge people on the color of their skin. While I can kind of understand where sheвЂ™s coming from, I find her colorblind perspective to be problematic. She believed God is the color of water, and as such, it was best for her children to identify as simply вЂњhuman,вЂќ since God has no color. She told them not to identify with any race or color вЂ“ not with blackness, or whiteness. However, Jordan encouraged her children to be colorblind, and didnвЂ™t educate her children on their Jewish heritage until she was much older. SheвЂ™s what we would describe today as вЂњpretty wokeвЂќ for taking action the way she did. For example, she was able to secure a building for purchase on behalf of her husband (who was African American), get her son out of jail after he was wrongly accused of selling drugs.

There are even many parts of the novel where she uses her white privilege to her advantage, fully acknowledging the obligation she had to protect the people she loved at the same time. Her thirst for knowledge growing up, and ensuring all twelve of her children made it to college (and half of them to graduate school) justifiably classifies her as a TOTAL BAWSE. Ruth McBride Jordan refused to let вЂњthe systemвЂќ get in her way. HereвЂ™s what really stood out to me about her: After re-reading it, I was struck once more by the intricacies of McBrideвЂ™s storytelling, the parallels between McBride and his mother, and their human strength.В Hands down, one of the most interesting people to read about in this book is Ruth McBride Jordan, the authorвЂ™s mom. This nonfiction novelвЂ™s format is such a unique one because while you read it, you can see how fluid time is and how history is capable of repeating itself for generations. The Color of Water: a Black ManвЂ™s Tribute to his White Mother (1995)В tells the story of a mixed race man named James McBride and his Jewish mother coming of age in a time when mixed race visibility was relatively taboo.

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