The Color of Water

A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A fiercely private, self-described “light-skinned” woman who refuses to discuss her ethnicity, yet raises twelve Black children with unwavering love and determination.

In The Color of Water, James McBride retraces his mother’s extraordinary past while reflecting on his own upbringing and identity. Growing up in the poor, predominantly Black projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, McBride and his eleven siblings are pushed relentlessly toward education and opportunity by their formidable mother, who fills their lives with culture, discipline, and ambition.

As a young man, McBride sees Ruth as a source of embarrassment and confusion. It isn’t until he is thirty that he begins uncovering the painful history she has kept hidden. Born Rachel Shilsky to an Orthodox Jewish family in Poland, Ruth fled persecution and an abusive home before eventually settling in New York, where she married a Black minister, built a church in her living room, and devoted herself to her children.

Through Ruth’s vivid recollections and McBride’s own memories, The Color of Water becomes a powerful portrait of family, race, poverty, and identity. It is both a haunting exploration of the forces that shape us and a deeply moving tribute from a son to the mother he spent years trying to understand.